Assessment of small dams and pans in Tanathi water services board

Abstract

Water is crucial to sustaining life and many resources are expended in water development and management with the intention of making it accessible so as to improve people’s lives and promote civilization. The making of water accessible to people is achieved partly through the development of structures for water storage (SWSs) such as dams and pans worldwide. In Kenya, the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation (NWCPC) is mandated to develop SWSs. This study examines the cost effectiveness of the implementation of small SWSs in Kenya by NWCPC. The main study was limited to TANATHI Water Services Board. The study looks at various aspects of cost effectiveness such as achievement of project objectives and resource utilization among other aspects. Previous studies were reviewed while various stakeholders were also interviewed during data collection. Field and desk studies were done in Tanathi Water Services Board area using random sampling of the identified population. The results reveal that NWCPC has been effective in implementation of small SWSs. The main benefit noted was the improved water availability for domestic and livestock uses among several other benefits. Nonetheless NWCPC still has room for improvement such as in the completion of SWSs within the scheduled time, monitoring and evaluation and community involvement. The study highlights some of the negative issues resulting from the implementation of the SWSs such as conflicts, loss of livestock, diseases and influx of wild animals. It also includes proposals on how NWCPC could be more cost effective in the development of SWSs. These include improving the time taken to implement SWSs, constructing larger reservoirs for longer storage periods and involving the stakeholders.