The Water Hole

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Oct 18 2007 | By: admin

I feel obliged to thank all readers who’ve been visiting my blog since it came up and to answer a couple of questions that were asked about provious posts.

1. Lake Jipe Plan Around the Corner: Thank you Dipesh, it is encouraging to know that we are not the only ones who care for the plight of Lake Jipe. As for your question, we can only hope that the plan is completed soon as the lake is crying for redemption. As I said in the post, the plan is still in the draft phase and still undergoing review. As such i do not know when its implementation will start.

2. Lake Jipe Plan Around the Corner: I am thrilled by admin(?)’s observation on when ‘they’ will stop having meetings and workshops and start saving the lake once and for all. Well, rest assured admin(?) as we are already on the ground. With funding from the likes of UNDP, GTZ and BCP, we have partnered with the local people to rehabilitate the lake.

Lake Jipe’s problem has been the illegal abstraction of water, siltation due to irresponsible agriculture and the invasion of the typha weed - essentially due to siltation. Since 2004 we have been implementing a project whose main goal was the rehabilitation of the Lake. if you follow the links that i provided in the Jipe post you will be able to know more about these projects.

Essentially, we effectively spearheaded a concerted exercise that resulted in desiltation of River Lumi - the main source of Jipe’s water - and the Grogan Canal which is almost as significant. It was hard work but in about a year, the lakes fishery, which is very important to the local people, had recovered significantly. These pictures should give you an indication of the work already done.


Our efforts have not ended and we are still getting some little funding from UNDP. If you wish to support these efforts, you can donate to this project using the WildlifeDirect donation page.

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