Hey Kiddies,

I am headed to Uganda again. Headed over to Tanzania for a little look see as well. does anyone know the level? i know that it is low. any Beta would be good.

Billy Harris

Better, yes. But enough, probably not.
By 2006 Lake Victoria has reached an 80 year low. According to one newspaper:

\"Lake Victoria water level rises
DAILY NEWS Reporter in Mwanza
Daily News; Tuesday,January 09, 2007 @00:05

LAKE Victoria water level has risen by 62 centimetres since October last year, an official for the Lake Basin said here yesterday.

Mr Lusekelo Ambokile Mwambuli, the Acting Lake Victoria Basin Water Officer, attributed the rise to the ongoing heavy rains in areas around the Lake.

Mr Mwambuli said the lake received largest amount of water on December 31, last year, when 1,132.34 metres above sea level was recorded compared to 1,131.7 recorded in October.
The lake's level has been shrinking at an alarming late due to prolonged drought that hit the catchment areas between 1998 and 2006.

The situation was compounded by over-utilisation of the lake water, especially in Uganda, according to the task force leader of the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP), Mr Dickson Rutegamwa.

Mr Rutegamwa said the lake water level shrank by 2.3 metres prior to the rains. Experts say that the level fell by 0.34 metres, equivalent to about 14 per cent and associate the fall to increased outflows at Owen Falls Dam in Uganda.

Tanzania is one of the countries that felt the impact through decline in fish export earnings and water rationing in cities in the Lake Zone.

Mwanza has been experiencing water shortage on the explanation that the amount of water received from the main pipeline, that draws water by gravity from the lake, had declined from 3,540 cubic metres per hour to only 400 cubic metres. \"


So thats good news at least... The water has at least risen a bit after a drought from 1998 to 2006 as outlined in the above newspaper clip.

Another interesting link:

earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Victoria/victoria2.html

Lake Victoria is fairly shallow with an average depth of 40m and a maximum of 84m. Evaporation is a problem on such a huge surface area and the Lake is also entirely fed by rain water that falls on it's surface. Not too many rivers to actually feed it, so therefore very sensitive to rain. The lake does fluctuate quite a bit over a larger time frame and the last time it was really low was probably before kayaking was even invented.. Hope this helps.

Look at this link:
www.irn.org/programs/nile/index.php?id=060614kull.html

It's pretty clear that operators at the Nalubaale Power Station have released too much of water in the recent years to meet the demand for electricity of the surrounding area. The alarming low levels in the lake Victoria are forcing the operators to stick to the agreed release levels from now on and It might be that the days are over when we saw steady high levels in the White Nile day after day. The releases up to 1700m2/s fit in the agreed release curve, but only when the water level in the lake are high enough.

Unfortunate for us paddlers, but it looks like if the Ugandan dam operators follow the agreed release levels from now on the higher levels can be seen in the White Nile only occasionally when the lake level is high enough.

Hey guys. I suppose your best bet is to get in contact with either becky or Jamie from kayak the nile. They will be able to give you live updates on what the water level is like and will be like in a months time. Better to try becky via e-mail, she is a bit more responsive than jamie. A friend and I went to uganda june 06 and the wave at ugly sisters was better than nile special. we got huge air + the wave is a bit more solid.
Adios amigos

We left Uganda at 17th of January. The water level was less than last year. The wave in Ugly sisters was good, but the Nile Special was better. It is fast with a good rebound. The problem is to start serfing you need a rope and a friend on the bank. The rope is on the Hairy Lemon.