Softball Pitcher Clipart

The dam thirsty

Catherine Amick article published in "Il Manifesto"

The region of Lake Turkana is Kenya's most arid, desert sand and stone that marks the sensitive border with Ethiopia, Sudan el 'Uganda. There, water is the most valuable asset, so that you walk up to eight hours under the hot sun to bring back home a liter. In recent years the drought has significantly reduced the seasonal rains and rivers remain dry for most of the time.
This is the land of the Turkana, Borana, Samburu and Dasanech, mainly nomadic pastoralist communities has always been in conflict for the exploitation of scarce resources. They survive by raising camels, goats, donkeys and a land inaccessible contending and access to the few available water supplies.
In this hostile environment, the lake is a key resource. For some communities it is the only source of water, although salt is used for all domestic purposes and for watering livestock. Over the years these people from the traditions millenarie hanno diversificato l'attività produttiva dedicandosi anche alla pesca. Attraverso una rudimentale catena di distribuzione e commercio, il pesce del lago Turkana arriva sui mercati di Nairobi e viene venduto anche in Uganda. Si stima che fra pescatori, distributori, commercianti e trasportatori la pesca sia l'unica fonte di reddito per 10mila famiglie, che da queste parti significa 80mila persone.
Questo fragile sistema di relazioni ecologiche e sociali potrebbe collassare per sempre se la costruzione della diga Gilgel Gibe III arriverà a compimento. Il fiume Omo scorre per 600 chilometri in Etiopia, garantendo il 90 per cento dell'acqua del lago Turkana. E proprio sul bacino dell'Omo il sodalizio fra il governo etiope e una nota azienda italiana, Salini Constructors SpA, has led to the dam project Gibe III, which could create a humanitarian and environmental crisis unprecedented in a traditionally unstable region. The dam, under construction since 2006, fully hedge up the river with a wall of 240 meters, 500 km north of Lake Turkana. In Ethiopia, the Omo Valley is also inhabited by numerous indigenous communities who live in traditional agriculture based on the flooding of the River. During the rainy season, the flood irrigate the lands naturally deposited organic matter which increases its fertility, the same technique used by ancient Egyptians along the Nile.
But in terms of drought will be the region Turkana to pay the highest price. It is estimated that the lake level drop of 10-12 feet of water by increasing the salt concentration and finally undermining domestic use and for livestock. The aquatic biodiversity will be drastically reduced, creating an irreversible crisis of the local economy. The conflicts between local populations will be exacerbated by environmental degradation and increasing poverty.
This could be done under the sign of development. The dam will have a total cost of one billion and € 800 million and could receive support from the African Development Bank and European Investment Bank. The European taxpayers' money so thirsty further una regione già duramente colpita dal cambiamento climatico e farebbero precipitare questa ampia zona dell'Africa subshariana in una nuova spirale di conflitti.