ABSTRACT
Lake Victoria (LV), with a surface area of about 68,870 km2, is Africa’s largest and the world’s second largest freshwater lake. It lies at an altitude of 1134 m above sea level and relatively shallow with a maximum depth of about 80 m, and an average depth of about 40 m. Figure 16.1 shows the extent of coverage of the lake and its entire catchment. Th e catchment area is 180,950 square kilometres with Tanzania occupying 44%, Kenya 22%, Uganda 16%, Rwanda 11% and Burundi 7% (Table 16.1). Direct rainfall into the lake is its main source of water accounting for 82% while 18%, comes in through rivers. Evaporation accounts for 76% of water loss and 24% loss are through the River Nile outfl ow at Jinja, Uganda. Th e lake’s water residence time is 23 years, while its fl ushing time is 123 years.
