In this Conservation News item the text was incorrect with respect to the role of the Water Resources Authority of Kenya (formerly the Water Resource Management Authority) and IHE Delft (formerly UNESCO-IHE). Although the Authority is responsible for the water allocation plan for the Kenyan side of the Mara River, it did not develop plans for the dams described in the text of the news item; these plans were developed by the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP). The included URL is not related to the Water Resources Authority of Kenya or IHE Delft or their activities.
In addition, the final location of Norera dam was incorrect. The correct location is on the Amala River at 0°52′28″ S 35°27′30″ E (Nile Basin Initiative, undated).
The corrected text of the second paragraph should read as follows:
Under the framework of the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (http://nelsap.nilebasin.org/index.php/en/) there are plans to construct several dams on the Kenyan side of the Mara River basin. These include (1) the 10 m high Norera dam on the Amala River, mainly for irrigation c. 30 km upstream of the Serengeti, (2) the 65 m Amala High dam in the Mau forest, with provision for water transfer through a tunnel from the Amala River to the Ewaso Ngiro River for hydroelectricity generation by three dams (Oletukat Olenkuluo, Leshoto and Oldorko; 140, 57 and 30 m high, respectively) and discharge of that water to Lake Natron in Tanzania, and (3) one or two dams (Mungango and Silibwet, 30 and 70 m high, respectively) on the Nyangores River, mainly for irrigation (Fig. 1). None of these dams have yet been constructed, but the feasibility studies, except that for the Amala High dam, were completed by 2016. Tanzania is proposing the Borenga dam. The feasibility study is completed but the dam has not yet been built; it is located downstream from the Serengeti and thus creates no water threat to this ecosystem.
In addition, point (3) in the third paragraph should read as follows: (3) During low flow the Mara River receives 39% of its water from the Nyangores River; the two irrigation dams on the Nyangores (Mungango and Silibwet) would decrease that flow by 100 litres per second, and this doubles the chances that the MEF will not be achieved.
