Degradation of Lake Ziway, Ethiopia: A study of the environmental perceptions of school students

Abstract

Lake Ziway in Ethiopia is a freshwater lake supporting multitude uses, including irrigation, fishing, water supply and recreation. However, the lake is being degraded primarily because of various land-and water-use activities in its watershed. Recognizing these human impacts on the lake's water quality and quantity, the perceptions of school students were surveyed under the belief that the future of the lake is largely dependent on this younger generation. The goal of this study was to better understand how students actually recognize the extent to which various human activities impact the water quantity and quality of Lake Ziway. As major stakeholders in their communities, the perceptions of school students from four high schools regarding the changes to the lake over time were investigated. Students were contacted by purposive sampling, based on criteria of student academic performances, and their proximity to the lake. Their perceptions were studied on the basis of an interview survey. The majority of students indicated that high levels of human activities, especially water abstractions and water pollution, were the main lake impacts. Students believe there is a lack of sustainable utilization and protection of the lake. They suggested coordinated activities among all lake stakeholders in the participation and decision-making process to properly manage the lake. Provision of awareness to both local administrations and local communities, concern for establishing an appropriate regulatory body and allocating a sufficient budget, and strict controls on flower farm practices in the lakeshore, also was considered to be of high priority as a means of conserving the sustainability of the lake. The result derived from this survey has important implications for facilitating improved school curricula, and for federal, regional and district level water resource management authorities, in setting priorities and developing policies for the sustainability of Lake Ziway.

Water quality problems, related challenges and their impacts on Ethiopian fishery

“…Of these, irrigation close to the shores or littoral zone of the lake (62%), deforestation at the watershed (57%), waste discharged into the lake (33%) particularly from Ziway floriculture industry, poor watershed management practices, particularly soil and water conservation activities (23%) are sources of water pollution. Based on the finding, the lake's fish stock is depleting through time and the possible challenges are water volume reduction due to water abstraction for irrigation and water supply (72%), siltation of the lake through soil erosion due to deforestation (71%), chemical pollution due to runoff from irrigated lands (65%), uncontrolled and excess fishing practices (54%) due to the increasing fishing population over time (86%), use of small mesh fishing nets (53%), lack of government control over fishing (31%), and lack of community involvement and sense of ownership of the lake (26%) (Desta et al, 2015). A study made in North-south gradient of Ethiopian lakes suggested that the major threats that contributed to the depletion of fish communities were overfishing, high sediment load and degradation of habitats (Vijverberg et al, 2012).…”

“…In other words, the water quality parameters such as salinity and turbidity reveal increasing trends due to anthropogenic activities within the catchments and having drastic effect on fish production (Utaile and Sulaiman, 2016). Various studies have been conducted on human activities and their impacts in Ethiopian water bodies (Yohannes et al, 2013;Worako, 2015;Berehanu et al, 2015) such as Lake Hawassa (Utaile and Sulaiman, 2016), Lake Chamo, (Desta et al, 2015;Desta et al, 2017), Lake Ziway (Goshu and Aynalem, 2017;Gebremedhin et al, 2018), Lake Tana, (Abrehet et al, 2015), Blue Nile River (Minuta and Jini, 2017), and Walleme River Southern Ethiopia (Figure 1). Good water quality plays an important role in wild fishes and aquaculture development in the country (Utaile and Sulaiman, 2016).…”

Manchar Lake’s Hypothetical Restoration and Willingness of Fishing Communities to Switch Back To Fishing

“…Lakes normally show a general impression of relative calmness and stability concerning the set of natural resources they harbor [6]. Freshwater ecosystem systems give an extensive variety of environmental services, yet changes in land use in populated regions have had disproportionately huge negative impact on lakes' natural health and functioning [7].…”

Comparative Assessment of the Water Quality Deterioration of Ethiopian Rift Lakes: The Case of Lakes Ziway and Hawassa

“…Recent studies on Lake Ziway showed that the lake is highly polluted due to various anthropogenic activities around the lake system, for instance, the recent studies showed that, there are intensive use of fertilizers for large-and small-scale irrigation practices in its watershed [8,15]. Furthermore, floriculture development around Lake Ziway uses extremely high fertilizer.…”