Environmentalists have expressed concern over the increasing cases of human activities along two main rivers that feed Lake Naivasha.
The group warned that the gains made in rehabilitating the lake’s catchment areas could be reversed as a result of the degradation of the sections of the rivers.
According to Enock Kiminta from the Water Resource Users Association (WRUA), the state of Rivers Karate and Gilgil was worrying due to illegal activities being carried out.
Kiminta said a huge section of River Karate had been turned into a quarry with hundreds of youths excavating stones for construction.
The Environmentalist termed the move as wrong saying it would block water from flowing to the lake normally thereby affecting the water body’s survival.
“The youths have take advantage of the current drought where the seasonal river has dried up to carry out illegal quarry activities”
Addressing the press in Naivasha, Kiminta said if something is not done to stop the illegal activities; the river will be no more in the coming years.
“They have dug huge sections and we are afraid that when it rains the water will not flow to the lake as is expected”.
He at the same time said River Gilgil was on its death bed due to massive water abstraction from farmers.
Kiminta noted that the farmers from Mbegi village were getting water for farm use without proper regulations.
“This is a small river that feeds the lake but the farmers are using thousands of liters every day to irrigate their farms, with little flowing to the lake”.
He called on Water Recourse Management Authority (WRMA) to help in curbing the situation before it gets out of hand.
This came as water users downstream said the lake’s levels were on the decline partly blaming the fall to illegal activities upstream.
According to the chairman Lake Naivasha Boat Owners Association David Kilo, the levels were dropping each day creating an environment for the dreaded water hyacinth to spread.
“The weed spreads in concentrated areas of the lake and with the levels dropping, the hyacinth is spreading fast”.
