Lake Turkana, located in the Kenyan Rift Valley, is the world’s largest permanent desert lake and the world’s largest alkaline lake. Known as the “jade sea” due to its striking turquoise colour, it stretches over 250 kilometres long. The lake is a crucial ecological zone, supporting a variety of wildlife, including crocodiles, hippos and numerous fish species. It is an important historical site, with archaeological discoveries in the region providing insights into early human history. The lake is a also a cultural asset for the people living along its shores like the Turkana, El Molo, Samburu and Rendille people.
Lake Turkana
In a region that hardly receives and rainfall, the swelling of Lake Turkana to a record high has indeed been a puzzle. There are three rivers that drain into the lake, the Omo river which has its source from the Ethiopian highlands, this river contributes about 90% of the Lakes inflow, recently, the Ethiopian government built the 1870 megawatts Gibe III hydroelectric project which altered the water flow into the lake, some experts had suggested that this would have caused the lake to dry up. The second river that drains into the lake is Turkwel river that has its source at the Mt Elgon. The third river is the Kerio river that originates from the Elgeyo Escarpment. Its contribution to the lakes water inflow is more seasonal depending on the rainfall in its catchment area. The precipitation data from these water catchment areas show that there was nothing out of the ordinary as far as cumulative rainfall levels.
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The other source of water inflow to the lake are the springs within the lake and there’s a couple of them and this is where our primary investigations with Lenteipa Learamo (instagram), a photo-journalist and storyteller based at Loiyangalani, a small town on the eastern shore whose nearby villages have not been spared by the lake’s submerging spree, theorize could be the cause of the lakes swelling.
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In a bid to solve this puzzle I did an NDWI analysis with using Google Earth Engine’s Landsat and Sentinel datasets of two other lakes close to Lake Turkana on the great rift valley floor but all the changes in their surface area were justified. The first lake was lake Logipi which is a few kilometers on the southern tip of Lake Turkana. Although smaller, Lake Logipi showed almost 0% changes in its surface area expect during the rainy seasons in the region which normally occur around the months of March-April for short rains and October- November for the long rains.
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The other lake, also found on the great rift valley flow, Lake Baringo, had varying changes in its surface area. These changes were justified by the precipitation data I analyzed using the CHIRPS dataset for the surrounding highlands and escarpments where most of the rivers draining into it have their source.
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A Working Theory on Lake Turkana’s Flooding: The Role of Seismic Activity
Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake, sits within the East African Rift Valley, a geologically active region shaped by tectonic movements. According to data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), an earthquake was recently recorded near Lake Turkana. This seismic event may have triggered underground shifts, potentially opening up new fissures or reactivating dormant natural springs beneath the lake. Given that Lake Turkana lies within the Rift Valley, a region characterized by deep fractures and geothermal activity, it is plausible that the earthquake caused water from underground reservoirs to resurface, increasing the lake’s volume.
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This theory aligns with observations from other rift valley lakes, where seismic movements have been known to alter groundwater flow and surface water levels. If confirmed, this phenomenon would provide a new perspective on how tectonic forces influence the hydrology of rift lakes, beyond the well-documented effects of climate change and human activities. Further hydrological and geological studies are needed to assess whether new springs have indeed emerged and how they might be affecting the long-term water balance of Lake Turkana.