By Lake Zone Watch Writer
Lake Victoria has witnessed a record increase of water level in the first quarter of this year (January to March) from an average of 1134.00 height above mean sea level (amsl) in 2023 to 1134.54 amsl, the Lake Victoria Basin Water Board has revealed.
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location’s vertical distance in reference to datum based on a historic mean seal level.
For quite long, the average water flow to Lake Victoria has been 1133.40 but on Wednesday April 24, this year, the figure shot up to 1134.86, which the Water Board says is a major record for the past 50 years.
The 1134.86 figure surpasses the 1134.84 amsl record of May 2020, according to the Board.
The Lake Victoria Basin is divided into three water catchment areas of Kagera, Mara and Central in the south of the lake whose waters enter the sprawling largest freshwater lake in Africa.
A statement issued by the Board this week said that four key factors have immensely contributed to the increased water flow in the lake. These are an increased rainfall, increased water flow from rivers, increase of the water level in dams and the lake, and the decline of water evaporation.
Measurements from 70 record stations show that average rainfall during the January-March period under review was 124.2 mm compared to an average of 103.03 mm recorded for a long time in the same period.
The Board warned people living near water sources to take precautionary measures as the long rains continue to pound the Lake Victoria basin.