| dc.description.abstract | This thesis focuses on the assessment of Integrated Water Resources Management of Ewaso Narok Catchment Area, one of the nine Management Units of the Ewaso Ng'iro Catchment Area. The purpose of this study was to establish whether water is used efficiently and whether stakeholders are involved in planning, development and management of water resources for sustainability in order to achieve socio-economic development.
The methods used in the study included administration of questionnaires to farmers and households, semi-structured questionnaires to government offices in the establishment of population and other factual data as well as interviews with various officers of different institutions such as WRMA and WSPs. In this assessment, water demand in the catchment was established from population data and the water available was determined based on the rainfall data and compared to the river flow data.
The household survey done established the socio-economic status as well as the water and sanitation situation in the study area. It also established the level of knowledge by communities on water conservation methods and water regulations in place. Enumerators with prior training carried out the survey on a span of five days. The study established that the challenges facing implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management in the Catchment Area includes;
· Lack of information on the water sector reforms by the local residents. 86% of respondents were not aware of Water Act 2002 and 86% were not aware ofthe National Water Resources Management Strategy.
· Un-even distribution of water resources across the catchment. 39% of the population depends on ground water (shallow wells and boreholes) while 13% depend on dams and pans. Rivers and streams supply water to 43% of the population with half of the people getting water directly from the river and the other half getting piped water from water supplies.
· Surface water sources are polluted by industries, informal settlements, farmers and residents accessing them. 65% of farmers in the project area use insecticides while 22% of the farmers use pesticides which are washed down to the rivers. Informal settlements dump both solid wastes and human excreta into the water.
· Catchment degradation which is mainly by deforestation. Forest cover has reduced to 30% of the total coverage it was in 1980. The main causes of deforestation are wood fuel accounting for 24%, charcoal burning accounting for 25% and construction posts accounting for 13%.
· Poor farming methods especially furrow irrigation. Among the 15% of population that practice Irrigation, 46% practice furrow irrigation and 34% practice sprinkler irrigation which wastes a lot of water.
· Lack of water permits and therefore perception of water as a free commodity. Only 3% of the population had the knowledge of water permit.
· High poverty levels, at 67.4% which means the local people cannot afford to pay the full cost of water.
· Poor involvement of all stakeholders especially the poor and marginalized, in water management. Only 16% of the respondents confirmed participation in water management. The results ofthe survey established that;
· There was more than adequate water in the catchment area i.e. a surplus of21.461m3/s. However, it was unevenly distributed across the catchment and across the year, with most of the surplus being at the rainy seasons. With proper management and development of infrastructure, the residents can be supplied with adequate water of good quality.
· There is need to enforce water abstraction law, which allows abstraction only with availability of a water permit. This will stop farmers from diverting the rivers into their farms and using the more wasteful furrow irrigation method.
· Water resources were polluted by agricultural activities, factories, informal settlements and water users with direct access to water sources.
· Residents were farming in areas gazetted as swamps and forests and they should be restrained, as this plays a part in catchment degradation.
· The Water Resources Users Associations were not strong enough and should be strengthened as tools of conflict resolution and fair distribution of water resources. | en_US |
