Uganda: Lake Victoria’s Shoreline Reportedly Changes Colour

Excerpt from report headed ‘Strange matter develops on Lake Victoria shores’, by Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor website on 3 April

About 3000ft of Lake Victoria’s shoreline at Kitubulu, Entebbe has changed colour from the ordinary light green to a vegetable green. The adulterated water, which at close range looks like paint, is giving off a pungent smell.

The change in coloration of the waters has thrown environmentalists into panic. “It is of very great concern to us. We need to take immediate mitigation measures. That is why I have called a meeting with Nema [National Environment Management Authority],” Florence Adongo, the acting Commissioner for Water Resources Management, told Daily Monitor yesterday.

Ms Adongo said laboratory tests are being carried out after she dispatched a team of water quality analysts. She said it would take five days of intensive work before the results are known.

“We need to find out what is causing it and stop it. It is definitely affecting the water users there,” Ms Adongo said. She said activities affected include fishing, recreation and water consumption.

She said she suspects algae could be the cause. “The algae must have been stimulated by the surroundings,” she said.

“It (water) is not suitable for use in the short-term. When the algae come, they compete with water life for oxygen at night. This causes decay. Because of the competition for oxygen, the fish is bound to die. The depletion of oxygen affects the fish,” Ms Adongo said. Her explanation was confirmed by one of the fishermen who declined to give his identity.

“We cannot fish here. We have to go deep into the waters. There is no fish here,” the man said. “It could be algae bloom, stimulated when the water is enriched with nutrients,” Ms Adongo explained. She said, however, that pollution from industries cannot be ruled out as a cause. The shore is shared by a fish factory and a flower growing industry.

Lake Victoria is the largest fresh water lake in Africa, shared by the three East African countries – Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. It is also the largest source of fish, a big source of income for the people occupying the lake’s islands. [Passage omitted: on Algae]

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Africa. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.