View source for Turkwel River

{{Short description|River flowing on the border of Kenya and Uganda}}
[[File:Turkwel River Outside Lodwar Town in Turkana County Kenya.JPG|thumb|Dry riverbed of the Turkwel river, just outside [[Lodwar]] town in [[Turkana County]], Kenya]]
[[File:Turkwel River and Lake Turkana (17343415454).jpg|thumb|Seen entering [[Lake Turkana]]]]
The '''Turkwel River'''<ref>{{GEOnet2|32FA881FBC793774E0440003BA962ED3|Turkwel (Approved)}}, [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency|United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]]</ref> (sometimes spelled '''Turkwell River'''<ref>{{GEOnet2|32FA881FBC783774E0440003BA962ED3|Turkwell (Variant)}}, [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency|United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]]</ref>) is a river flowing from [[Mount Elgon]] on the border of [[Kenya]] and [[Uganda]] to [[Lake Turkana]]. The river is called the Suam River from its source to the border at [[Turkana County]] of Kenya. The name Turkwel is derived from the [[Turkana language|Turkana]] name for the river, ''Tir-kol'', which means a river that "withstands the wilderness". The Turkwel begins on the lush green slopes of [[Mount Elgon]] and the [[Cherangani Hills]], then traverses the [[Southern Turkana Plains]], crosses the [[Loturerei Desert]] near [[Lodwar]] and empties into the world's largest desert lake, [[Lake Turkana]].<ref name="Adams">{{Cite journal|author=Adams, W. M.|date=1989|title=Dam construction and the degradation of floodplain forest on the Turkwel River, Kenya|journal=Land Degradation & Development |publisher=Wiley |volume=1 |number=3|pages=189&ndash;198|doi=10.1002/ldr.3400010303}}</ref> The river's flow is seasonally varied, and flash floods in the rainy season also occur at times.<ref name="Adams" />

The controversial [[Turkwel Dam]] was built by the [[Government of Kenya|Kenyan government]] from 1986 to 1991 with the help of [[France]]. The plan was to harness the waters of the Turkwel. The project was initially supposed to cost [[Kenyan shilling|KSh.]] 4&nbsp;billion, but ended up costing more than KSh. 20&nbsp;billion.  The dam partially filled the Turkwel Gorge<ref>{{GEOnet2|32FA881FBC743774E0440003BA962ED3|Turkwel Gorge (Approved)}}, [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency|United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]]</ref> and created the Turkwel Gorge Reservoir.<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Kotut, Kiplagat |author2=Njuguna, Stephen G |author3=Muthuri, Francis M. |author4=Krienitz, Lothar  |name-list-style=amp | date=1999 | title=The physico-chemical conditions of Turkwel Gorge Reservoir, a new man made lake in Northern Kenya | journal=Limnologica &ndash; Ecology and Management of Inland Waters | volume=29 | number=4 | pages=377–392 | doi=10.1016/S0075-9511(99)80046-2| doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Anthropology ==
[[File:Hominin KNM-WT 22944 G-J.png|thumb|Hominin hand remains from South Turkwel.]]
In 1999, fossils reported from south of the river were assigned to ''[[Australopithecus]]'' sp. based on similarities with ''[[Australopithecus afarensis|A. afarensis]]'', although they were not the same. They were discovered by a multinational team in 1990 and brought to the National Museums of Kenya. These fossils include a [[metacarpal]], [[capitate]], [[hamate]], [[lunate]], [[pedal phalanx]], [[Mandible|mandibular]] fragment, and [[Tooth|dental]] remains. They lacked the [[Suspensory behavior|suspension]] and [[climbing]] capabilities in the [[hand]] and [[wrist]] of contemporaries, but had heavily muscled forearms that were adept at certain [[ape]]<nowiki/>like types of [[Precision grip|precision gripping]] based on the suggested rotary capacity. These were assigned KNM-WT 22944 G through J, and they are 3.5 mya old from the [[Nachukui Formation]].<ref>{{Citation |last1=Ward |first1=C.V. |title=South Turkwel: A new Pliocene hominid site in Kenya |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248498902627 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=36 |pages=69–95 |year=1999 |doi=10.1006/jhev.1998.0262 |last2=Leakey |first2=M.G. |last3=Brown |first3=B. |last4=Brown |first4=F. |last5=Harris |first5=J. |last6=Walker |first6=A.|issue=1 |pmid=9924134 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== References ==
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{{coord|3|06|17|N|36|05|51|E|region:KE_type:river_source:GNIS|display=title}}
{{Rivers of Kenya}}

[[Category:Rivers of Kenya]]
[[Category:Mount Elgon]]
[[Category:Tributaries of Lake Turkana]]
[[Category:West Pokot County]]
[[Category:Rivers of Uganda]]


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