Chapter 9
Lentic-Lotic Water System Response
to Anthropogenic and Climatic Factors
in Kenya and Their Sustainable
Management
Daniel O. Olago, Jackson Raini, Christine Omuombo, Godfrey Ogonda,
Jones Muli, Cornelius Okello, Willis Memo, and Obiero Ong’ang’a
Abstract Kenya has many lakes which have evolved through geological time; most
of the modern ones were created during the Lower to Middle Pleistocene. While all
of them react to climate changes over geological timescales, a number of them are
highly sensitive to even seasonal climate variations, fluctuating quite dramatically in
surface area and level, and are, therefore, commonly referred to as “amplifier” lakes.
There is a range of biological diversity in the lakes, and the rivers and wetlands
within the lake basins, in diverse ecosystems that provide various goods and services
to the local communities around them. However, there is mounting evidence that
the impacts of human activity (e.g., deforestation, agriculture, water abstractions)
and hydrological variability related to global warming effects on climate (rainfall,
temperature) are already affecting these natural aquatic resources, leading to changes
in fauna and flora distributions and in their overall resource values. The consequences
are mostly adverse, but there are also beneficial ones. Climate, environment, and
society interact in complex ways in lake basin ecosystems. For example, there has
been no clear understanding of the cause(s) of the striking rise in lake levels in the
D. O. Olago (B) · C. Omuombo
Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation & Department of Geology, University of Nairobi,
P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
e-mail: dolago@uonbi.ac.ke
J. Raini
FlamingoNet, P.O. Box 13493-20100, Nakuru, Kenya
G. Ogonda · O. Ong’ang’a
OSIENALA (Friends of Lake Victoria), P.O. Box 4580-40103 Kisumu, Kenya
J. Muli
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), Baringo Field Station, P.O.
Box 31-30406, Kampi Ya Samaki, Kenya
C. Okello
Department of Environmental Sciences, Machakos University, P.O. Box 136-90100, Machakos,
Kenya
W. Memo
Rift Valley Catchment Region, Water Resources Authority, P.O. Box 1600-20100, Nakuru, Kenya
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Diop et al. (eds.), Climate Change and Water Resources in Africa,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61225-2_9
193
Lentic-Lotic Water System Response
to Anthropogenic and Climatic Factors
in Kenya and Their Sustainable
Management
Daniel O. Olago, Jackson Raini, Christine Omuombo, Godfrey Ogonda,
Jones Muli, Cornelius Okello, Willis Memo, and Obiero Ong’ang’a
Abstract Kenya has many lakes which have evolved through geological time; most
of the modern ones were created during the Lower to Middle Pleistocene. While all
of them react to climate changes over geological timescales, a number of them are
highly sensitive to even seasonal climate variations, fluctuating quite dramatically in
surface area and level, and are, therefore, commonly referred to as “amplifier” lakes.
There is a range of biological diversity in the lakes, and the rivers and wetlands
within the lake basins, in diverse ecosystems that provide various goods and services
to the local communities around them. However, there is mounting evidence that
the impacts of human activity (e.g., deforestation, agriculture, water abstractions)
and hydrological variability related to global warming effects on climate (rainfall,
temperature) are already affecting these natural aquatic resources, leading to changes
in fauna and flora distributions and in their overall resource values. The consequences
are mostly adverse, but there are also beneficial ones. Climate, environment, and
society interact in complex ways in lake basin ecosystems. For example, there has
been no clear understanding of the cause(s) of the striking rise in lake levels in the
D. O. Olago (B) · C. Omuombo
Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation & Department of Geology, University of Nairobi,
P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
e-mail: dolago@uonbi.ac.ke
J. Raini
FlamingoNet, P.O. Box 13493-20100, Nakuru, Kenya
G. Ogonda · O. Ong’ang’a
OSIENALA (Friends of Lake Victoria), P.O. Box 4580-40103 Kisumu, Kenya
J. Muli
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), Baringo Field Station, P.O.
Box 31-30406, Kampi Ya Samaki, Kenya
C. Okello
Department of Environmental Sciences, Machakos University, P.O. Box 136-90100, Machakos,
Kenya
W. Memo
Rift Valley Catchment Region, Water Resources Authority, P.O. Box 1600-20100, Nakuru, Kenya
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Diop et al. (eds.), Climate Change and Water Resources in Africa,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61225-2_9
193