Construction of Ethiopian dam may devastate local communities in Kenya

Gideon Lepalo describes growing up in Loiyangalani, 20 kilometers from Lake Turkana, as magical. However, he fears the building of Gilgel Gibe III dam in Ethiopia, upstream of the Omo River, will soon mean that his childhood memories of the lake will be exactly that - memories. According to an independent environmental impact assessment done by the Africa Resources Working Group, a cluster of eight scholars and consultants from the United States, Europe and Eastern Africa, the building of Gibe III upstream of the Omo River will cause a radical reduction of inflow of water into Lake Turkana in Kenya. This is because the Omo River provides up to 90 percent of the total water flowing into Lake Turkana. The assessment states that up to 500,000 people living around the lake will be adversely affected by the building of the dam. The result of this will be increased salinity conditions in the lake waters, rendering them unfit for human and livestock consumption. Also facing risk of destruction will be hundreds of aquatic species, which are unique to Lake Turkana and which residents rely on for food.