It plays an important role in the ecology of Lake Natron, the main regular breeding site for near-threatened lesser flamingos.

[2] The forest, which plays an important role in regulating and filtering the inflow to the river, is under threat from logging and land clearance for farming.

Destruction would increase sediment loads in the river and cause greater seasonal variance in the volume of water.

This has caused the waters to spread out into the steadily expanding Engare Ng'iro swamp, where the river deposits its sediment.

[3] However, in the past there have been plans to dam the Ewaso Ng'iro for hydroelectric power generation and for irrigation of the marshlands north of the lake, diverting water from other rivers to increase the flow.