Analysis of water stable isotopes fingerprinting to inform conservation management: Lake Urema Wetland System, Mozambique

The results show that Lake Urema is maintained throughout the dry season merely from water generated during the wet season. It receives water from wet season precipitation and the runoff generated from this precipitation. The water source areas of the lake are the Gorongosa Mountain and the Barue Basement geomorphological units. Consequently, the source of the sediments which have been trapped into the lake and the floodplain has to be identified in these two catchment areas and urgent action is required to rescue the lake. This water body constitutes a groundwater buffer system which supports a unique wetland landscape. The annual inundations' processes leading to the recharge-drainage cycle in the floodplain are most sensitive to the deposition of sediments, changing hydraulic gradients, and reducing wet season inflows and increasing drainage rates.