BUTIAMA, Tanzania, Sep 21 — Lake Victoria is facing an escalating threat from rampant pollution, with preliminary findings of a new East African Community (EAC)-backed study warning of declining water quality across the region’s largest freshwater body.The research, undertaken through a coordinated water quality sampling campaign in June this year, found alarming levels of chemical pollutants, nutrient overloads, and sedimentation linked to human activity. Experts from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania conducted the joint exercise, the first of its kind in over two decades, with technical support from the German Development Agency (GIZ).Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Project Coordinator Arsene Mukubwa said the lake is suffering from worsening contamination instead of improvements.“Water quality has been reducing in the lake over the years, and it’s a concern that instead of us reducing pollution, we are increasing it,” Mukubwa told KNA during Mara Day celebrations in Butiama District, Tanzania.Unchecked human activities He cited sand harvesting, coal mining, and unchecked human activities near urban centres along the shoreline as key drivers of the lake’s degradation.The comprehensive study examined physical, chemical, and biological parameters, testing for nitrogen, phosphorus, silica, alkalinity, total suspended solids, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and organic pollutants. Geographic coordinates and depth profiles were also mapped to aid spatial analysis.Mukubwa said the detailed report will be unveiled at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, where the EAC intends to table the findings to lobby for stronger conservation commitments backed by scientific evidence.With over 40 million people depending on Lake Victoria for food, water, and livelihoods, the declining water quality is viewed as a looming regional crisis. The results will also shape the LVBC’s strategic plan running to 2030, which is reviewed every five years to guide interventions.“Water is a finite resource and therefore demands that all stakeholders sit at the same table to agree on how to use and share it efficiently,” Mukubwa said.