Assessment of the Effects of Land Use Change in Upper Catchments of Lake Kivu on its Water Quality

Abstract

This paper analyzed the effects of land use change in the catchment area of Lake Kivu on its water quality. The results of laboratory analysis of water samples from 4 locations testing the concentration of major elements showed that Mn, N, P and K are high during the growing and raining seasons and low during the dry and harvesting seasons. They also indicated that the concentrations of Cr, Al were considerably low in all seasons but vary with the seasons at Nyamasheke and Karongi stations. The variations of other major elements were not depending on the seasonal variations.