(Guardian Weekly 6-12 April 2007)
Lake Naivasha in the Rift Valley in 1969 used to support a population of 27,000 people. Today the population is nearly 300,000 and the 130 sq. km. lake has shrunk to 75% of its size in 1982. For the past 30 years the lake has supported 50 large flower farms and nearly 40,000 people work on the farms which extract at least 20,000 cubic metres of water a day. In 20 years say the conservationalists and ecologists the lake could be little more than a muddy pond. This can be compared to the Aral Sea in the former USSR,which large scale extraction of water for agriculture dried up in the 1970’s.
Chinas’ one child policy has been abandoned and the Muslims and Africans are breeding as fast as they can. So forget global warming. In 20 years time you will be fighting for a glass of water.
What do the Kenyan farms use this water for? If you buy flowers in Europe there is a one in three chance that they come from Lake Naivasha. The UK imported 18,000 tons of flowers from Kenya most of which will come from Lake Naivasha. So the elite in that socialist paradise Britain maintain their life style at the cost of Lade Naivasha. Is the River Murray next to go?
What ever.
