Lake Elmenteita is situated at 0u 279 S 36u 159 E on the floor
of the Kenyan Rift Valley at 1776 m above sea level and has
no direct outlet (Melack, 1988). The region is characterized
by a hot, dry and semi-arid climate with a mean annual
rainfall of about 700 mm (Mwaura, 1999). Due to the high
temperatures there are very high evaporation rates during
the drier seasons, leading to a seasonal reduction in the total
surface area. The size of Lake Elmenteita is roughly 20 km2
and the depth rarely exceeds 1.0 m (Mwirichia et al., 2010).
The alkalinity of the water is high with a high concentration