Lake Victoria
http://www.google.com/imgres?client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=cZ8GQKXNzyQcNM:&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Synopsis:
Lake Victoria lies between Uganda, Tanzania, and
Kenya. Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the
second largest tropical lake in the world. 80 % of Lake Victoria’s Water comes
from rainfall, the other 20% comes from streams and rivers. The Lake has
supported millions of Africans over the years. However, in more recent years,
pollution and overfishing has threatened the sustainability of Lake
Victoria.
The History of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the second
largest tropical lake in the world. It has a surface area of 68,800
square kilometers and contains about 2,750 cubic kilometers (2.2 billion
acre-feet) of water. It has a maximum depth of 276ft and an average depth
of 130 ft. Lake victoria receives its water from approximately 80% of
precipitation and thousands of small streams. The lake lies mostly in
Tanzania and Uganda but borders around Kenya. John Hanning Speke sought out the Nile, which led to the
discovery of the lake by the British explorer in 1858. Speke named the
lake in honor of Queen Victoria of England. Since the beginning of time,
the Lake has been thought to have dried up 3 times. The lake was thriving with
fish, and pollution was non existence up until about 1960 where pollution had
increased drastically. Lake Victoria had more than 400 species of fish before the
introduction of Nile Perch. However, it now has about 200 species. The smaller
species disappeared due to the predatory behavior of the Nile Perch. The
pollution continues to rise, and the numbers of fish continue to decrease. The lake supports over 25 million people and
brings in 3-4 billion dollars in revenue from their catches. Hydroelectricity
from the Owens Dam is the primary source of electric power in Uganda, which is responsible for 98% of Uganda's electricity.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/641258-lake-victoria-could-soon-be-history
The Current Human Impacts on Lake Victoria
Over-fishing, harmful land use, pollution, and algae have contributed
to oxygen and nutrient depletion in addition to the mass extinction of fish
that is currently taking place. Less
precipitation has also occurred in the East African region and the lake has
suffered from a major drop in its water level.
Less precipitation coupled with a decline in fish over time is a
negative sign for the future of this lake.
As the water levels have decreased, become murky, and oxygen-depleted,
it has created ecological and social problems. The problems include a massive
loss of native species and the existence of most commercial fishing. Lake Victoria is in danger of becoming the
world's largest pool of dead water.
Already half its native fish are extinct, and the 30 million people who
rely on survival from the lake are facing great danger. Considering these
dangers, the people who depend on Lake Victoria must make a change in order to
preserve the Lake. If something is not done soon about pollution/overfishing
the people relying on those waters will be in deep trouble.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z27P6mW5HVk
The Owen Falls dam is responsible
for 55% of the decrease in water levels. This led to the Lake’s all time low in
2006. Since 2003 the water level has dropped 1.1 meters. The drop in water level has resulted in an 80% drop in talapia.
Human Impacts:
Pollution: As you can see in the video, the people of Lake Victoria don't care too much about conserving their waters. They wash their cars in the water, dump trash into the lake, really not aware of the environmental dangers that they are causing.
Sewage: Raw sewage flows from neighboring houses and into the lake every day
Fuel Spillage: The boats used in Lake Victoria aren't necessarily the most fuel efficient boats, and continue to leak fuel into the lake.
Car washing: As seen in the video, people actually wash their cars in the lake, and you can imagine what that does to the lake.
Soil Erosion: Many of the trees that have been living on islands have been cut down to build houses, leading to soil erosion. This causes the lake to become much more murky, ultimately leading to the increase in algae and the decline in water clarity.
Overfishing: The study conducted in 2005 revealed that Nile Perch stocks went down from 750,000 tones to 337,000 tones, in 2008. Tilapia also dropped from 27,061 tones to 24,811 tones over the same period. This may partly be because of the pollution in the lake,
People have most dramatically affected
the ecosystem by fishing and pollution. The division of fish caught among the three
nations sharing Lake Victoria is roughly estimated to be:
Tanzania: 40%
Kenya: 35%
Uganda: 25%
Conservation Status: (2) Horrible: The pollution and the overfishing has taken it's toll on the lake. There are not enough environmental projects dedicated to saving Lake Victoria's waters and fish. There are some that have been launched, such as New Vision and the LVEMP, but the only way that Lake Victoria is going to make a turn around is if the people get educated on the dangers that pollution has on the lake.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EIRMiDjnJCw/UXQkj3G15_I/AAAAAAAAAJs/7OFgJfK_hvo/s1600/Capture2.PNG
Future:
Over-fishing, harmful land use, pollution, and algae have contributed to oxygen and nutrient depletion in addition to the mass extinction of fish that is currently taking place. Less precipitation in the East African region and the Dams have caused major drops in its water level. Less precipitation coupled with a decline in fish over time is a negative sign for the future of this lake. As the water levels have decreased, become murky, and oxygen-depleted, it has created ecological and social problems. The problems include a massive loss of native species and the existence of most commercial fishing. Lake Victoria is in danger of becoming the world's largest pool of dead water. Already half its native fish are extinct, and the 30 million people who rely on survival from the lake are facing great danger. On the other hand, the only direction that Lake Victoria can go, is up! Once there are some more projects launched dedicated to conserving the Lake (which there already are) the Lake will surely see positive results.
Suggestions on Improving Lake Victoria:
The status of Lake Victoria is horrible right now, for this reason, people must act immediately and launch projects dedicated to improving the lake's cleanliness. Breweries, tanning,
fish processing, and agro processing (sugar, coffee) are all industrial
businesses that have contributed to pollution around the lake. If these businesses were to diminish,
obviously there would be less pollution, and Lake Victoria and the fish would
be much healthier. Since it is not permissible to abruptly tell these
businesses to stop, the best bet on improving the ecosystem is conservative
uses of the lake. The way this happens
is through educating the people, let them know that their lives could be in
great danger if they don’t act on this problem soon. Considering that there has
been a decline of fish in Lake Victoria over the years, there should be a
limitation on how much people should be allowed fish, in order to prevent a
severe decline the numbers of fish. Setting limitations on the amount of fish
one is allowed to take out is a start and will surely have a positive impact on
the fish population. However, there won’t be any fish to catch if pollution
gets too serious. So, pollution needs to
decline as soon as possible. First, the
people of Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya must stop dumping waste into the lake.
The neighboring countries don’t fully know the effects that their carelessness
has on the lake. Second, there must be laws prohibiting the dumping of any
toxic waste, chemicals, or any kind of waste into the lake. The first step that
must be taken should be to save the Lake, and reduce pollution.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Density_evolution_Victoria.png
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