Environmental assessment of the East African Rift Valley lakes

Odada, Eric O.; Olago, Daniel; Bugenyi, F. W. B.; Kulindwa, Kassim; Karimumuryango, Jerome; West, Kelly; Ntiba, M. J.; Wandiga, Shem O.; Aloo-Obudho, Peninah; Achola, Pius

doi:10.1007/s00027-003-0638-9

Cited by 62 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Water and some fish species commonly used as food has been shown to be contaminated with enterobacteriacea species of bacteria including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium and Vibrio cholerae 01 [20,21]. According to the Global International Waters Assessment Reports, four immediate causes of microbiological pollution of Lake Victoria waters are: untreated municipal sewage; runoff and storm water; animal waste and maritime transport waste [22]. However, the two most immediate causes of microbial pollution in the lake are the direct discharge of untreated municipal sewage into the lake as well as tributary rivers, runoff, and storm water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Variation of the Physicochemical and Bacteriological Quality of Water from Five Rural Catchment Areas of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya

SO¹,

JN²

2016

J Environ Anal Chem

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Variation of the Physicochemical and Bacteriological Quality of Water from Five Rural Catchment Areas of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya

SO¹,

JN²

2016

J Environ Anal Chem

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“…Advancing the conservation of freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem functioning requires data on key functional groups in addition to Wsh. The lack of such information is especially problematic in the African Rift Valley region, where human population growth is causing widespread degradation of freshwater habitats while at the same time increasing demands for reliable water and Wshery resources (Odada et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology and conservation status of endemic freshwater crabs in Lake Tanganyika, Africa

et al. 2008

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Sedimentation resulting from riparian deforestation has a wide range of detrimental eVects on aquatic biodiversity, but predicting the full consequences of such disturbances requires an understanding of the ecosystem's key functional components. We investigated the ecology and response to sedimentation of the diverse, endemic freshwater crabs of Lake Tanganyika, which may occupy important positions in littoral foodwebs. Our surveys revealed crab distribution patterns to be patchy, and that crabs can be locally abundant (0-28 individuals m ¡2 ). Crab densities decreased with depth and the dry mass of crab assemblages ranged from 0.0 to 117.7 g m ¡2 . Comparisons among sites revealed signiWcant eVects of sedimentation on crab assemblage evenness, but provided no evidence that sedimentation has altered densities, incidence or species richness. The resilience of crabs to sedimentation might be related to their intraspeciWc dietary breadth. Stable isotope data ( 13 C and 15 N) from crabs and their potential food resources indicated diVerences in trophic roles among endemic crab species. Overall, crabs occupy higher trophic positions than most other invertebrates, and they draw upon both benthic and planktonic energy pathways. The high biomass and top-predator status of some crab species suggests the potential for cascading eVects on organisms lower in the food web.

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“…Surface evaporation from the lake amounts to 1.44 × 10 7 m 3 (2075.7 mm/year), i.e., more than twice the precipitation volume of 5.331 × 10 6 (789 mm/year), thus represents an important part of the water budget over the lake. This is typical of many East African and tropical lakes, such as Lake Manyara [6], Lake Nakuru [58], Lake Ziway [4], and many others [59,60]. The total precipitation volume over the whole catchment (including the lake) is 2.72 × 10 8 m 3 /year which is however far greater (almost 20 times) than the lake surface evaporation volume (1.44 × 10 7 m 3 /year).…”

Section: Reproducing Current Conditions and Historical Observations Amentioning

confidence: 91%

Water Balance and Level Change of Lake Babati, Tanzania: Sensitivity to Hydroclimatic Forcings

Mbanguka

Lyon

Holmgren

et al. 2016

Water

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Abstract:We develop and present a novel integrated water balance model that accounts for lake water-groundwater interactions, and apply it to the semi-closed freshwater Lake Babati system, Northern Tanzania, East Africa. The model was calibrated and used to evaluate the lake level sensitivity to changes in key hydro-climatic variables such as temperature, precipitation, humidity and cloudiness. The lake response to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 5 (CMIP5) output on possible future climate outcomes was evaluated, an essential basis in understanding future water security and flooding risk in the region. Results show high lake level sensitivity to cloudiness. Increased focus on cloud fraction measurement and interpretation could likely improve projections of lake levels and surface water availability. Modelled divergent results on the future (21st century) development of Lake Babati can be explained by the precipitation output variability of CMIP5 models being comparable to the precipitation change needed to drive the water balance model from lake dry-out to overflow; this condition is likely shared with many other East African lake systems. The developed methodology could be useful in investigations on change-driving processes in complex climate-drainage basin-lake systems, which are needed to support sustainable water resource planning in data scarce tropical Africa.

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Environmental assessment of the East African Rift Valley lakes

Cited by 62 publications

References 71 publications

Seasonal Variation of the Physicochemical and Bacteriological Quality of Water from Five Rural Catchment Areas of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya

Seasonal Variation of the Physicochemical and Bacteriological Quality of Water from Five Rural Catchment Areas of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya

Ecology and conservation status of endemic freshwater crabs in Lake Tanganyika, Africa

Water Balance and Level Change of Lake Babati, Tanzania: Sensitivity to Hydroclimatic Forcings

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