Kenya is no stranger to drought.
Areas in the Northeast haven't had rain for over two years.
But on the other side of the country, something unprecedented has been unfolding over the past 10 years.
All the Lakes along Kenya's Rift Valley have been getting bigger.
Villages, farmland, wildlife reserves and even neighboring lakes have been engulfed by water.
So how is this happening and can anything be done about it?
In 2013 geologist Simon Onywere discovered that lake Baringo was
two kilometers bigger than it was on the official maps at the time.
Further research showed that a string of lakes in the Rift Valley from lake
Turkana in the north to lake Magadi in the South had also increased in size.
The lakes continued to expand throughout the 2010s slowly but surely overrunning local attempts
to contain them.
Lake Nakuru increased by over 50% and spread across the surrounding National Park,
an important Wildlife Reserve.
Then between October 2019 and June 2020 further disaster struck.
Relentless heavy rains devastated the country.
Hundreds of people were killed by landslides
and floods which left over a hundred thousand people displaced from their homes.
And there was an ecological cost as well.
Lake Baringo, which is a freshwater lake,
lake Bogoria, a salty alkaline lake, usually lie over 20km away from each other,
but by the time the rains ended, the lakes had come within seven kilometers of merging.
Had the fresh water and saline lakes combined, it would have devastated both ecosystems.
Meanwhile lake Turkana, the world's largest desert lake, increased by 779 square kilometers.
This was disastrous for the El Molo people
who were the smallest ethnic group in Kenya
and have been living on the shores of Lake Turkana since around 1000 BC.
... now brings us the story
of El Molo Bay, communities are drowning as the waters of lake Turkana rise.
Homes, sacred sites and livelihoods
have all disappeared under Turkana's waters.
So what's causing the lake's expansion?
A government sanctions report published in 2021 shed some light on the situation but it's far from clear-cut.
The report identifies more rain in the lakes catchment areas due to the climate crisis,
unsustainable land use practices and tectonic movements.
First two causes can be seen at lake Baringo and lake Bogoria.
Intensified land use and deforestation on the steep slopes surrounding the lakes
has caused topsoil to wash down, clogging the lake beds and displacing the water.
But lake Turkana is in a desert, its rise is not caused by too much rain or unsustainable land use.
Government report explains that since the rift valley is an active tectonic belt,
naturally occurring stresses are transforming the lake beds
and increase seismic activity is also changing the flow between the groundwater and the lake water.
But in spite of these differing factors, one thing remains clear.
The impact of the rising water levels on communities living by the lakes is huge.
So why was the government so slow to act?
Many believe it's taken the government over 10 years to investigate because the country
has seen it all before.
Heavy rains brought devastating floods in 1961 and 1997 and with them,
a rise in the lake water levels.
But each time nature has rebalanced itself and the water levels have receded.
So the government has employed a wait and see policy, sending mainly short-term supplies
and waiting for the lakes to return to normal.
The problem is the stakes are much higher now.
The number of people living and farming near the lakes has increased by a huge margin since 1961.
While geological changes and the climate crisis means that the lakes are unlikely to recede back
to previous levels this time around.
Human cost and the impact on wildlife is only getting worse.
So far nearly 400,000 Kenyans have been displaced by flooding
and protected animal species are losing their habitats
while school children are having to negotiate crocodile infested waters to get to school.
With the likelihood of extreme weather events in the region increasing,
a plan for flood mitigation is more vital now than ever.
But each lake and community is unique and will require its own specific response.