Lake Victoria Threatened By Diversions And Massive Pollution

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Schistosomiasis, bilharzia, cholera, pneumonia, diarrhea and skin diseases are among the water-borne or abetted illnesses that afflict Lake Victoria residents with increasing frequency, health officials say. And the human excrement expelled into the lake from the Kisumu car washers is by far one of the least of the pollutants. "Millions of liters of untreated sewage sludge flow into the lake every day from major urban centers along the lake shore," the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said of Victoria in its 2006 assessment of east Africa's lakes.

This contamination, coupled with chemical and fertilizer run-off from lakeside industry and agriculture, has had a devastating effect, contributing to a disturbing rise in anoxia, lack of oxygen, in the lake water, it said. "Nearly half of the lake floor currently experiences prolonged anoxia for several months of the year, compared to the 1960s when anoxia was localised and sporadic," UNEP said.

"The sanitation is becoming alarming," says Daniel Olago, a geology lecturer at the University of Nairobi who was a co-author of the UNEP report and has called for hefty increases in fines for polluters. "Another major problem is the amount of sediment going into the lake because of deforestation from people who need firewood," he said.

Over the past four years, the water level of Lake Victoria has ebbed by 1.5 meters (five feet), bringing it to only 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) above the lowest-recorded level in 1923. Some researchers have accused Uganda of diverting water from the rivers and streams that feed Victoria for hyrdroelectricity but many say blame for the lake's poor health is due to a variety of factors, including poverty. KEMRI's Karanja believes the decline is the result of the vicious cycle, saying the more people need the lake to survive the less they will respect the precious and fragile nature of its resources.

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http://www.terradaily.com/2006/060410034653.ihpospjb.html

[ladjf]

1. The is nothing left on the planet that the human race has totally

ruined. Are we proud of our species? Were we created in God's image? If so, it doesn't speak well of God.