The Kilimanjaro-Amboseli Hydrology weblog.

[Dear Internal gang, As discussed at the meeting in Amboseli last week, we need to find a way to re-kindle interest in a hydrology study. We agreed that it might be a good start to open a blog on the subject and then broadcase its existence to hydrology labs around the world to see if we can get a response for a research proposal and perhaps some funding. I've set up a blog (if you're reading this, you already know that) at Blogger http://kili-amb-hydrology.blogspot.com, which is the Google-operated blog service. I've put in past correspondence and documentation, starting with the report by Mifflin. Have a look at the draft intro para below. I've put you in as Members, so in theory you should be able to edit directly. Feel free to add internal comments to the blog at this stage.

When we're happy that we've struck the correct tone, I'll delete the non-subtantive comments (like this blue note to you) and send out an invitation to hydrology labs (need names and addresses!) to enter the fray. At the moment, I've put your names as having access to editing. Later we can open it up to anonymous contributers or to a closed list of correspondents.

Happy blogging. HC]

"Scarcity of permanent water is the salient feature of Amboseli’s surface hydrology; water is obviously a key limiting factor in the ecosystem. Apart from a handful of spring-fed rivulets that bubble from the northeastern piedmont of Kilimanjaro (such as Nolturesh), there are no perennial rivers in the ecosystem, only seasonal streams that flow for short periods during the rains (Fig. 4). The Eselenkei-Kiboko river drainage in the north and northeast portion of the ecosystem is highly seasonal. There is no surface runoff from the Chyulus: rainfall soaks almost on impact into the porous volcanic soils. There are also no permanent streams coming from the Kilimanjaro slopes or the catchment of Namanga Hill (also known as Oldonyo Orok, the ‘black mountain’) to the West.

"Springs and swamps. Water, which falls as rain onto the forested catchments and volcanic soils of Kilimanjaro and the Chyulu Hills, feeds through a little-understood underground drainage system and emerges at the southern margin of the basin in a number of springs that cut in channels northwards across the flat Amboseli plains. The volume of outflow determines the extent of surface water and height of the underground water table in the basin, which in turn affects the salinity of water in the rooting zones of trees.

"The springs feed an important series of west-east oriented swamps that are the lifeblood of the ecosystem: Enkong’u Narok and Lonkinya within the Amboseli National Park boundaries; then, eastward to Namelok, Kimana, Lenkati and near the Chyulu Hills, Esoitpus (Fig. 4). Without the swamps, the ecosystem would not today be a haven for biodiversity, able to sustain the impressive populations of large herbivores, small mammals and birds, as well as the Maasai and their livestock, and the high-intensity agriculture, especially in and around the Namelok and Kimana swamps.

"The extent of outflow from the springs appears to depend on variations in rainfall amount and runoff from Kilimanjaro’s forest zone. Rainfall variation may be random or cyclic, anything but constant (see below). The relationship between rainfall events and the recharging of watersheds is not a simple correlation with annual amounts. There is some evidence from both the Chyulu-Mzima Springs system and the Lake Victoria basin that single pulses of high rainfall, such as in the late 1950s and early 1960s, can saturate the watershed and provide downstream flow for a number of years to follow (Lamb 1966)." [Extract from Croze and Lindsay (2006 in prep)]

The Amboseli Trust for Elephants invites interested scientists to join a conversation, perhaps leading to a collaborative research effort, on the hydrology of northern Kilimanjaro and the Amboseli ecosystem. There are two overarching questions:

1. How does water get to the Amboseli swamp system today?

2. What is the prognosis for the future?

We look forward to your participation.

Harvey Croze, Phyllis Lee, Keith Lindsay, Cynthia Moss, Joyce Poole, Soila Sayialel