Agriculture and Industry
Floriculture forms the main industry around the lake. However, the largely unregulated use of lake water for irrigation is reducing the level of the lake and is the subject of concern in Kenya. Fishing in the lake is also another source of employment and income for the local population. The lake varies in level greatly and almost dried up entirely in the 1890s. Having refilled, water levels are now dropping again.
In 1981, the first geothermal plant for Lake Naivasha was commissioned and by 1985, a total of 45 MW of electricity was being generated in the area.
The water level for Lake Naivasha reached a low level of 0.6 m depth in 1945, but the water level rose again, with minor drops, to reach a maximum depth nearly 6 m in 1968. There was another major decline of the water level in 1987, when the depth reached 225 m above the lake bottom. The decline of the lake water level in 1987 increased concern in the future of geothermal industry, and it was speculated that Lake Naivasha underground water might be feeding the geothermal reservoir at Olkaria. Hence, the decline in the lake water would affect the future of the geothermal industry. .
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