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Entebbe beaches under threat as Lake Victoria shoreline expands
Following the recent increase in the water levels at Guchina Beach in Entebbe, palm tree are now submerged. Photo by Paul Adude
What you need to know:
Cost. The increasing water level is attributed to heavy downpour and degradation of swamps, posing risk to swimmers and fishermen.
Entebbe. Patrick Segane is a regular beach goer. But since the beginning of this year, Segane living in Abayita Ababari, a short distance to most of Entebbe beaches, sees something new every passing day; an increase in the water levels of Lake Victoria leaving limited space for him and friends to play.
“The water has increased steadily and has washed away the big portions of sand at Anderitah, Missed Call and Lakeside resort beaches that we used to walk on and enjoy,” Segane says.
And it is not only the revellers that are seeing the increase of water in the lake. Mr Joseph Omuna, the manager of Sports Beach Entebbe, said the water levels started increasing in January this year and now the volume has gone higher.
5-metre expansion
“If you measure the water since the January, it has extended the shoreline by almost five metres,” Mr Omuna said.
The increase in water levels he says is threatening the lucrative business since “the sand the beach goers enjoy has been submerged by water.” Other beaches like Lido and Aero are facing the same challenged.
Mr John Mande, the Aero beach the manager told Daily Monitor that the increasing water levels also poses a threat to boat users and swimmers.
“It’s nature that we can’t fight because of the much rain that fell recently. We were given guidelines on the safety points, now it’s not safe swimmers to go long distances into the water,” he said.
Environmentalists Daily Monitor spoke to say the current situation is just a smaller reason for the increasing water volumes in Africa biggest fresh lake. Mr Richard Mwesigwe, an environmentalist working with the global Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), says majority of the wetlands and other swamps that have been acting as Lake Victoria catchment has been degraded meaning water flows straight in the lake.
“When you look at area surrounding the lake, it has been encroached on and when it rains, the water will all run into the lake,” Mr Mwesigwe, said yesterday.
Mr Robert Bakiika, the deputy executive director of Environmental Management for Livelihood Improvement Bwaise Facility, an NGO, shares the view like Mr Mwesigwa.
“We must do the right thing. Do not encroach on the lake catchment because when you go to Entebbe, there are people who have filled parts of the lake to expand their businesses,” Mr Bakiika, said.
A study done by the North Carolina State University’s Department of Marine, Earth and Atmosphere Sciences in the US recently revealed that East Africa is set to face a climate shift where the region will receive more rainfall.
