KVDA REGIONAL AREAS

The Suam River Basin, covering an area of 5,900 km², stretches down from Mount Elgon to the Turkwel Gorge. The basin is drained by the Kanyangareng River from the North-West and by the Suam River from the South-West. Flow regimes of the Suam River at Kongelai and on the upper Suam are good throughout the year with two to three relatively dry months. There are two peak flow periods, May and August, corresponding to the wettest months.

The Kerio River originates in the Metkei and Timboroa area North-West of Eldama Ravine. This mountainous forest area at an approximate elevation of 2500 m above m.s.l. receives abundant rainfall of over 1400 mm annually. The Kerio River flows more than 400 km to the North-East before discharging into Lake Turkana. The total catchment area covers about 14,172 Km².

Lake Bogoria and Baringo Catchment covers approximately 4,835 km² of very heterogeneous land. It is drained by four major river systems: the Perkerra, Molo, Endau and Waseges rivers. The Perkerra and Molo rivers drain catchments of 1,310 km² and 2,145 km² respectively. Maximum monthly flow values occur in May and August.

The Kerio and Turkwel Rivers contribute less than 10% of the total water discharge into the lake, although they comprise 30% of the Turkana drainage area. With the Turkwel dam, the effective Turkwel/Kerio catchment area draining to the lake is 41,700-5,900=35,800 km². The Omo River contributes over 90% of the lake inflow.

The Suguta River Catchment extends over an area of 12,900 km² in a South-North direction between the Kerio River Basin to the West and the Ewaso Nyiro River Basin to the East. The basin drains a semi-arid region where rainfall decreases from 800 mm in the South to 300 mm in the North.