Lake Turkana

About Lake Turkana: 

• Location: It is located in the remote northern region of Kenya.
• It lies in the Eastern Rift Valley with its far northern end extending to Ethiopia.
• Three rivers, including Omo, Turkwel, and Kerio flow into the lake, but only the Omo River is perennial, contributing 90 percent of the inflow of water each year.
• It stands as Africa’s fourth-largest lake and the largest permanent desert lake in the world.
• It is designated as the UNESCO World Heritage site and is renowned for its unique biodiversity and cultural significance.
• It is lying in a hot, arid, and remote region, and provides resources for communities on the lakeshore and surrounding areas.
• The estimated population of the Turkana region is approximately 1 million people, whose livelihoods are based on pastoralism, fishing, and, to a lesser extent, crop farming.
• Issues: Its semi-saline waters, driven by high evaporation rates and fluctuating lake levels of up to 8 meters per decade, have historically hindered sustainable development initiatives.
• Several past attempts to commercialize the fishery have largely failed, mainly due to a lack of understanding of the volatile conditions of this capricious lake.

Q1: What is a Rift Valley?

A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift. Rift valleys are found on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading.

Source: Lake Turkana: First comprehensive survey in 50 years highlights key findings