“Trona takes as much as 15 to 20 years to regenerate. But with silt, it takes much longer while also reducing its purity. If this trend continues, our future generations will not have anything to mine,” he explains.
Magadi’s trona is purified into soda ash which, among other things, is used to make glass and animals salt among other things. The country’s biggest market for its soda ash at the moment has been Middle East. But according to Mbui, giant economies such as China and US are already manufacturing their own soda ash artificially for their glass markets.
The locals who have farms in areas surrounding Lake Magadi have also been affected with some stating that they cannot grow products on their farms anymore due to the amount of water from upstream which goes into the farms.
“We therefore need to stop this siltation if we have any chance of competing favourably with these countries,” he states.
Mitigation
To stop siltation and save Lake Magadi, Tata chemicals has outlined what can be done.
For starters, river Kisamis, which is upstream, could be diverted into Oldorko, to stop the river from spilling into the lake. River Olonchakunai in Mosiro Ward could also be diverted so as to moderate the volume of water going into Lake Magadi.
Alternatively, check dams could be built in order to ease velocity of water. Water catchment areas could also be constructed upstream to regulate the amount of water going into Lake Magadi.
“The farmers in Narok areas such as Suswa, Nairagie and Ntulele could also contribute to ending the siltation menace by practicing safe farming by constructing terraces that could assist in stopping siltation,” Mbui explained.
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