This apocalyptic prophecy concerns Lake Magadi – the southernmost lake at the end of Kenya’s Rift Valley.
For hundreds of years, the tiny lake was indefatigable, offering a seemingly endless supply of salt and trona. Now, its very survival is in doubt.
The environment ombudsman has given it 20-30 years before it is fully choked in gravel, sand and silt.
Those new to Kajiado county, where the lake sits, might ask 'So what?'.
But people like Laban Lemayian, a 75-year-old Maasai elder, really care. His four sons – aged between 30 and 48 – are among the 3,000 people employed by Tata Chemicals Limited, which mines salt and trona from Lake Magadi.
His community in Olkiramatian survives on water provided by the company, because the lake sits in a dry section of Kajiado that receives hardly any rain.
“For many years, this lake was bright and pink, but sometimes there are dark patches as if it’s mixed with a lot of dirty soil. If that continues, I think it will be totally destroyed,” he tells the Star.
The livelihoods of at least 40,000 villagers around Lake Magadi depend indirectly on mining activities at the lake.
Tata says this pumps Sh9 billion into the economy every year.
“This hospital, Magadi Soda Hospital, is also supported by the company, and also our water. Our grandchildren also get scholarships from the company,” Lemayian says.
Lake Magadi is a classic example of an alkaline sodium carbonate lake; it is characterised by a large short-lived salt pan, saline and dry mudflats.
There is no permanent river feeding the lake. But the perennial alkaline springs at the perimeter of the active lake are fed by a saline, hot groundwater reservoir, which, in turn, is recharged by dilute runoff and rim streams entering the valley.
Tata Company says it only mines salt and trona, a naturally occurring mineral also known as soda ash.
Magadi's high temperatures and long sunny days cause the lake's brine solution to concentrate by evaporation, eventually giving rise to more trona. Thus, the trona deposit is constantly renewing itself by natural means.
The solid trona is crushed, washed and refined to produce soda ash, a white, granular substance used to make glass, paper products, laundry detergents and baking powder, among other products.
However, due to siltation, the quality of trona is deteriorating and the process of refining it might become unsustainable.
In a recent assessment, environment ombudsman John Chumo says the 100-square-kilometre lake may not survive the current wave of siltation.
It has become more common due to many factors, including global warming which has caused increased flooding upstream.
Chumo is the secretary of the National Environment Complaints Committee, a semi-autonomous agency that receives and probes environmental complaints.
He said siltation has affected about 20 per cent of the lake and is advancing.
THE PROBLEM
The problem begins about 100km away.
Chumo says loose soil and gravel from as far as Maai Mahiu, Suswa and Duka Moja areas are being carried 100km away by floods and dumped into the lake.
“The level of siltation has covered an estimated area of 20 square kilometres of the lake. It is estimated that 8,000 tonnes of sediments are deposited in the lake in each storm event of flash floods from the upper catchments,” he says.
“Every year about five per cent of the lake is going away and if nothing is done, the lake would reduce to land in about 20 years.”
The Star visited the region from Maai Mahiu near Kiambu county.
The area contributing to the siltation comprises majorly of two catchment areas: The upper catchment covering Keekonyokie and Suswa wards of Narok East constituency and the middle catchment covering Mosiro in Narok East, Ewuaso-oo Nkidongi and Mosiro wards of Kajiado West constituency.
Suswa township is about 45 minutes drive from Maai Mahiu town, along the Narok road, which crosses the standard gauge railway near Duka Moja area.
Peter Saruni was 15 years old when the SGR line passed near his father’s farm in 2017.
He dropped out of school at Std 8 and now spends time herding livestock near Duka Moja.
Below the gigantic pillars that support the railway is a large canal cemented on both sides, to carry floodwater down the valley.
“When it rains, a lot of water from Nairragie Enkare ridges goes through these culverts and finally to the river,” he says.
His family nowadays grows crops besides practising pastoralism. “A lot of soil from our farms comes here,” he says.
The weather nowadays consists of long dry spells followed by heavy rains.
Dr Chumo says all this floodwater ends up in Kisamis River, which flows down to Lake Magadi.
He says this region and the middle areas before you get down to Lake Magadi, have been continuously degraded as a result of human activities, which include clearing of natural vegetation for crop farming, overgrazing and charcoal burning.
“There's a lot of agriculture in Enkare area and people putting up structures disturbing geological aspects of the area. So a lot of the erosion ends up in River Kisamis,” Chumo said.
Villagers near the lake say it is not just mining that will be affected. “A lot of people come to see flamingoes and the lake. We sell armbands, shuka and other items to them,” says Susan Naipanoi.
The 43-year-old mother of four hawks artefacts to tourists around Magadi town.
“This work gives me Sh300 per day, but sometimes I get more, and it’s enough for my family,” she adds.
On August 4, 2016, Tata Chemicals informed the Water Resources Authority that it intended to build dykes along River Kisamis to stop the siltation.
The authority gave the company go-ahead.
The county government issued a letter of no objection while the National Environment Management Authority also supported the project, carried out in 2018.
According to Engineer Francis Sakimpa from Tata, says the siltation can be traced back to 2005 when the Narok-Mai Maahiu road was built.
The construction of the SGR worsened the problem by channelling floodwaters towards River Kisamis.
He says the area surrounding Lake Magadi is oriented in such a way that the Suswa hills are 2,100 metres above sea level while Lake Magadi is 600 metres above sea level.
This difference in sea level increases the velocity of water flowing from Suswa Hills to Lake Magadi, thus high siltation rates.
“Dredgers belonging to the company have occasionally been submerged in silt,” he told the National Environment Complaints Committee when they visited the company.
In 2019, the company also sought and was granted permission by Nema and WRA to divert a section of Kisamis River away from the lake.
The diverted waters now flow into the Oldorko Swamp at the base of Kayiorr Escapement, through Olodoariak and Oloturuno streams.
However, some residents have complained that the diversion has affected water availability to communities at Mosiro ward, as well as interfered with access roads.
Dr Chumo, who made a fact-finding mission to assess the complaint, ruled that Tata Chemicals should provide the residents of Mosiro with enough water for their household use and their livestock
Tata says the dykes and Kisamis River diversion are temporary solutions to the siltation problem, although it has spent about Sh100 million on the same.
“The main causes of siltation have not been addressed and this means that River Kisamis still flows with sedimentation each rainy season.
"The company is still investing to maintain the diversion channel to control the flow of sedimentation and to prevent the river from flowing back to the Lake,” says Subodh Srivastav, CEO of Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd.
“The government agencies and all stakeholders must act together to address the causes of erosion and pollution upstream the Suswa-Narok catchment areas by afforestation."
He suggests construction of sand dams along the River Kisamis channel.
Subodh says the company has presented the siltation challenges to the Senate Committee for Environment.
The ministries of Environment and Petroleum and Mining have also been informed.
“The company has requested for government intervention to protect the national asset from further siltation, and finding a permanent solution to the challenge,” he says.
He says the company cannot be left to deal with the problem alone because Lake Magadi is a national asset
Subodh says apart from direct employment, the company has entered into a Community Development Agreement with the local community as required by the Mining Act, 2016 on areas of support to the residents.
He says they support the 55-bed capacity hospital, where 90 per cent of inpatients and 80 per cent of outpatients treated at the facility are from the local community.
Approximately 64 per cent of Magadi Division relies on water supplied by the company.
The company also offers annual bursaries for university and secondary education and runs a graduate internship programme.
“Lake Magadi is a national asset that earns revenue to the government. The lake also supports thousands of livelihoods of the communities around it and should be protected from continued siltation,” Subodh says.
Dr Chumo acknowledges that solving the problem requires different actors.
He has called for a Sh100 billion 'Marshall plan' to restore the degraded environment from Mai Maahiu to Lake Magadi.
“This is a question of life and death. The lake is our resource as a country, its economic importance is great. There are also 3,000 people directly employed and thousands more indirectly. If Tata closes, we’ll lose over 3,000jobs and others,” he says.
The Special Report on the State of Lake Magadi, which the NECC prepared, proposes that Nema should coordinate a multi-agency team to spearhead activities and projects to prevent further siltation of Lake Magadi by implementing the Suswa-Lake Magadi Floods and Sediment Control proposal.
It also tasks all relevant government agencies.
“The Kenya Railways, Kenya National Highways Authority, National Lands Commission and Nema should take urgent measures to mitigate against the effects of stormwater drainage channels that are located on the SGR route at Suswa and the Narok-Mai Maahiu Road respectively,” it says.
At the moment, Lake Magadi remains the last meaningful water body at the end of Kenya’s Rift Valley.
But it continues to shrink daily. “It is a disaster in waiting,” warns Dr Chumo.
This article was funded by Women In News
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya
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