It drains a basin area of 70,000 km².The Athi River is called the Galana and Sabaki in its lower course. The upper Athi River drains the eastern slopes of the Aberdare Ranges north of Nairobi just, south of the Equator the Tsavo River, its main tributary, drains the Kenyan slopes of Mt. The Athi-Galana-Sabaki River is the second longest river in Kenya. Kilimanjaro. It is joined by the Nairobi River along its course. It has a total length of 390 kilometres, and drains an area of 70,000 square kilometres Surprisingly few visitors make it even this far and sightings of crocs, hippos, lesser kudus, waterbucks, dik-diks and, to a lesser extent, lions and leopards are relatively common. Since 2000, A Rocha Kenya (has been monitoring waterbirds at two key sites on the Coast of Kenya: Sabaki River Mouth (310’03.4S 4008’41.7E) and Mida Creek (320’07.2S 3958’26.4E). Near Thika town, its water drops down the Fourteen Falls, which was christened the name because it has 14 distinct falls. The Athi River then cuts across the Athi plains and near Athi town. It enters the Indian ocean just north of Malindi as Galana River, and is also known as Sabaki River. Perennial tributaries include the Mbagathi, Ngong, Ruiru, Thiririka, Nairobi, Mathare, Ndarugu, Kiboka, Kibwezi, and Tsavo Rivers.Įphemeral tributaries include the Thwake, Kaiti, Muooni, Makindu and Mtito Andei Rivers. To the west in Taveta, the Lumi River (a trans-boundary water resource) is perennial, fed by the Njoro kubwa Springs. The Athi-Galana-Sabaki River is the second longest river in Kenya (after the Tana River ). In the coastal zone there are a number of small rivers, including the Mkurumudzi, the Ramisi, the Mwache and the Umba. Given recent projections for increasing dissolved nutrient export from African rivers, as well as the planned damming of the Athi River, these first estimates of material fluxes from the Sabaki River provide base-line data for future research initiatives assessing anthropogenic perturbation of the Sabaki Basin.It has a total length of 390 kilometres (240 mi), and drains an area of 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 sq mi). hippopotami) may mediate the delivery of C 4 organic matter to the river during the dry season. Rapid pulses of heavily 13C-enriched POC coincided with peak concentrations of PN, ammonium, CH 4 and low dissolved oxygen saturation, suggesting that large mammalian herbivores (e.g. Regardless, sediment and OC yields were all at least equivalent or greater than reported yields for the neighbouring dammed Tana River. Our estimated sediment yield (85 Mg km −2 yr −1) is relatively low on the global scale and is considerably less than the recently reported average sediment yield of ∼ 630 Mg km −2 yr −1 for African river basins. The contribution of particulate organic C (POC) to the TSM pool indicates a wide biannual variation in suspended sediment load from OC poor (0.3 %) to OC rich (14.9 %), with the highest %POC occurring when discharge is 80 % of the total load for TSM (∼ 86 %), POC (∼ 89 %), dissolved organic carbon (DOC ∼ 81 %), PN (∼ 89 %) and particulate phosphorus (TPP ∼ 82 %), with > 50 % of each fraction exported during the long wet season (March–May). Although high total suspended matter (TSM) concentrations are reported here (up to ∼ 3.8 g L −1), peak concentrations of TSM rarely coincided with peak discharge. Erratic seasonal variation was typical for most parameters, with generally poor correlation between discharge and material concentrations, and stable isotope values of C ( δ 13C) and N ( δ 15N). Here, we present a 2-year biogeochemical record (October 2011–December 2013) at biweekly sampling resolution for the lower Sabaki River, Kenya, and provide estimates for suspended sediment and nutrient export fluxes from the lower Sabaki River under pre-dam conditions, and in light of the approved construction of the Thwake Multipurpose Dam on its upper reaches (Athi River). Inland waters impart considerable influence on nutrient cycling and budget estimates across local, regional and global scales, whilst anthropogenic pressures, such as rising populations and the appropriation of land and water resources, are undoubtedly modulating the flux of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) between terrestrial biomes to inland waters, and the subsequent flux of these nutrients to the marine and atmospheric domains.
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