INT 93-20084 Lyons This dissertation enhancement grant supports a Kenyan graduate student enrolled in the Hydrogeology program at the University of Nevada, Reno, Mr. Bwire E. Ojiambo, working under the guidance of Dr. W. Berry Lyons, to do field research at Lake Naivasha, in Kenya. The project will study groundwater-surface water interaction and characterize the subsurface outflow from Lake Naivasha towards the Olkaria geothermal field. Such information is critical for the future development of water and energy resources in Kenya, since Lake Naivasha is the country's main source of fresh water for all sectors -- public water supply, agriculture, electric power, wildlife and ecology.. The project will use seepage meter and piezometric data to evaluate seepage from the lake. Using several different chemical tracers, including strontium and helium isotopes, simultaneously, to evaluate seepage and mixing will provide some independent corroboration of the hydraulic data interpretation. The study will demonstrate how chemical data combined with a suite of isotope analyses can be used to investigate surface water-groundwater interactions. The field data collection work will be done with the assistance of a team of scientists employed by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, Ltd., which manages the geothermal project at Olkaria. Thus, besides the degree training for the student, the research effort will transfer technology to a number of Kenyan geothermal scientists working at Olkaria. The information collected in this project, together with previous information utilized in the current project, will be synthesized into a recommendation document that will be submitted to parties with interest in the optimum use and management of the Lake Naivasha waters. ***
