Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management: Participatory Capacity Building in Integrated Watershed Management

Abstract

Management of water resources is at the heart of political discourse to raise awareness among local stakeholders for support in policy formulation and implementation of water sector development plans. The concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been largely disseminated by the Global Water Partnership. Though theoretically appealing and sound, the process of implementation of participatory water resources management still has potential to yield results at local level. One reason is that the top-down approach used is too broad to be implemented and neither does it facilitate better understanding of the needs of each sector involved in the inter-sectoral collaboration to foster planning and benefit sharing of water resources. It is in favour of such practical action for water sector planning and development at small scale catchment level that the concept of "light" IWRM or "Integrated Watershed Management" (IWM) was developed to reduce various threats and severe water constraints affecting local stakeholders.

Full text

Hydrology and Best
Practices for Managing
Water Resources in Arid
and Semi-Arid Lands
Christopher Misati Ondieki
Kenyatta University, Kenya
Johnson U. Kitheka
South Eastern Kenya University, Kenya
A volume in the Advances in
Environmental Engineering and
Green Technologies (AEEGT) Book
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Names: Ondieki, C. M., editor. | Kitheka, Johnson U. editor.
Title: Hydrology and best practices for managing water resources in arid and
semi-arid lands / Christopher Misati Ondieki and Johnson U. Kitheka,
editors.
Description: Hershey, PA : Engineering Science Reference, [2018] | Includes
bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017009489| ISBN 9781522527190 (hardcover) | ISBN
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Subjects: LCSH: Water resources development--Africa. | Water resources
development--Developing countries. | Arid regions--Water-supply. |
Watershed management.
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This book is published in the IGI Global book series Advances in Environmental Engineering and
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Chapter 10
185
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2719-0.ch010
ABSTRACT
Management of water resources is at the heart of political discourse to raise
awareness among local stakeholders for support in policy formulation and
implementation of water sector development plans. The concept of integrated water
resources management (IWRM) has been largely disseminated by the Global Water
Partnership. Though theoretically appealing and sound, the process of implementation
of participatory water resources management still has potential to yield results
at local level. One reason is that the top-down approach used is too broad to be
implemented and neither does it facilitate better understanding of the needs of each
sector involved in the inter-sectoral collaboration to foster planning and benefit
sharing of water resources. It is in favour of such practical action for water sector
planning and development at small scale catchment level that the concept of “light”
IWRM or “Integrated Watershed Management” (IWM) was developed to reduce
various threats and severe water constraints affecting local stakeholders.
Kenya Success Story in Water
Resources Management:
Participatory Capacity Building in
Integrated Watershed Management
Joy Apiyo Obando
Kenyatta University, Kenya
Cush Ngonzo Luwesi
University of Kwango, DRC
Nele Förch
GiZ, Kenya
Anthony Ogutu Opiyo
South Eastern Kenya University, Kenya
Chris Shisanya
Kenyatta University, Kenya
Gerd Förch
Independent Researcher, Germany

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
INTRODUCTION
Water is the elixir of life and a principle indicator of sustainable development (Lal
2015). With the growing global population there are often outcries about the status
of major river basins and lakes, which in turn poses serious water provision and
availability issues leading to new development challenges. The management of water
resources is hence at the heart of implementation of Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) (UN 2016). In Sub Sahara Africa most countries could not adequately supply
clean water to meet achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on access
to water and sanitation by 2015. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of
the United States and a renowned polymath of the 18th century was then right to
say: “Many people think that water comes from the tap in the same way milk comes
from the cow…When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water” (quote from
Cyber-nook.com 2011). Savenije et al. (2014) relate this saying to water scarcity in
the tropics. “In most climate zones”, they record, “freshwater availability fluctuates
with the seasons and is scarce during some months each year. Given the vital nature
of water for humans, all societies located in such climate zones developed ways to
arrange and secure access to water for domestic and productive uses. Those societies
that survived over time found ways to use water in a sustainable manner, or at least
allowed the water resource to regenerate itself and did not destroy the natural cycle”.
There are various reasons to the ineffective water policies in Sub Sahara Africa.
Some of them include weak institutional frameworks that lead to sectoral and
fragmented approaches; inadequate water infrastructural development with competing
interests, uses and conflicts; very little or no concern about the transboundary nature of
water resources in public policies; and poor and unsustainable management schemes.
Since most uses of water resources are interdependent, the problem of coordination
of both supply and demand becomes very critical in most countries where the long
history of water policy follows a unilateral ministerial sector based approach.
Most analysts and professionals would argue that water management has been
sectoral and reductionist for too long, and that there is a need to better coordinate
management of different components of the resource (e.g. groundwater and surface
water), between various sectors and stakeholders, across links in the water chain
(the pathway from drinking water supply to wastewater treatment) and across
administrative boundaries. In that sense, Integrated Water (Resource) Management
has been widely hailed among those working in water as a welcome aim or vision.
Nonetheless, efforts are being made to identify and implement water management
solutions through collaboration at national and regional levels to increase self-reliance,
reduce conflicts and achieve socio-economic and environmental sustainability for
improved livelihoods. Such an integrated approach is very crucial, since water as a
resource cannot be served or transported in a vacuum, just like radio or television

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
signals cannot be sensed without a device. Hence, the need to consider both the
catchment area and its natural resources, water included, to understand the complexity
of “Integrated Water Resources management” (IWRM).
IWRM AND IWM CONCEPTS
The development of the concept of IWRM is generally explained by an increasing
recognition of the linkages between natural water systems and human development in
order to strike a balance between fulfilling human needs and sustaining ecosystems
rather than merely exploiting water to the full to maximize production (Rockström
et al. 2009). In fact, prior to the 1950s food crises, water research was solely the
field of hydrologists and engineers. The projected 1970s multifaceted economic
crises brought about “water resources development” concept, then “water resources
management” (WRM) in the 1980s and more popularly “integrated water resources
management” (IWRM) in the 1990s with a handful of newly related paradigms
such as “integrated watershed management (IWM)”, “food-energy-water nexus
(FEWN)”, “water smart production (WSP)”, “green water saving and management
(GWSM)”, “global water accounting (GWA)”, “virtual water trade (VWT)”, etc.
(Savenije et al. 2014).
The history of Integrated Water Resources management (IWRM) can be traced
back to the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s (Molle 2008), but the more recent
incarnation of the principles of IWRM is associated with the 1977 Mar del Plata
UN Water Conference, and the 1992 Dublin Principles adopted during the ‘Earth
Summit’ in Rio de Janeiro (ICWE 1992). These principles provide a framework for
managing water both as key “resource” (that is the content of the water catchment)
and a unique “ecosystem” (that is water catchment as the structural container of water
and other related resources). Hence, IWRM seeks to operationalize these principles,
that water is recognized as “a public good with both social and economic values”
and its management done in a broad and holistic perspective with the appropriate
involvement of users at all levels” (Lenton and Muller 2009). Due to the high
degree of sector intersection around water, all IWRM approaches stress the need to
improve efficiency in water use (the economic rationale), promote equity in access
to water (the social or developmental rationale) and to achieve sustainability (the
environmental rationale) (Table 1).
Ideally, IWRM approaches promote the coordinated development and management
of water, land, and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic
and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability
of vital ecosystems as a major goal while this concept has been operationalized.
Knowledge from various disciplines insights from different stakeholders to plan and

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implement efficient, equitable and sustainable water solutions. At the local level,
IWRM approaches have been implemented in the country specific cases depending
principally on the nature of water, services and occurring problem. Many countries in
the region have implemented the Johannesburg Plan of 2005 World Summit, which
involves creating IWRM and water services efficiency as an opportunity to take a
coherent approach to improving how they develop, manage and use water resources
to further sustainable development goals and meet development challenges. Some
countries have chosen to de-concentrate water resources management services through
zoning and others through decentralization as a strategy to focus and foster IWRM.
According to GWP (2015), stakeholder participation in water planning and
management is enshrined in all water legislation across the East African region
and is seen as the next step along the pathway to introducing the IWRM approach.
All countries follow a catchment based planning approach, embark on stakeholder
participation, and incorporate gender issues in water resources management.
Indeed, participation can under certain conditions; help towards the aim of ensuring
wider access to water, by allowing an individual or communal service to expand
into neighborhoods that previously had none (Jaglin 2002). However, top-down
approaches prevail when establishing the legal and regulatory set-up, where-as
catchment based strategies involving local stakeholders and water resources users
for sustainable management of watershed resources have been implemented on
large scale in Kenya only.
In general, many countries within the region have established IWRM structures
including legal as well as institutional; and continue formulating management plans
at catchment level, while incorporating water management into current national
Table 1. Degree of inter-sectoral integration
Low Mono-Sectoral
View: Focus on Water as
Resource (with Attention to
Externalities
Partial Sector Integration: Focus
on Water in Connection with
Another Resource Sector (with
Attention to Externalities)
Higher Sector Integration:
Focus on Water and Multiple
Other Resources (with
Attention to Externalities)
• Integrated management of
water quantity and water quality
aspects in particular water
courses
• Ensuring the conjunctive use
of groundwater and surface
water resources
• Land and water management in
irrigation
• Wastewater reuse in agriculture
• Control of minimum flows in
rivers for ecosystem protection and
agricultural water supply
• Integrated resources
management in a watershed
• River basin management
• Various control measures
for ecosystem valuation and
protection
European Union-Water
Framework Directive
(IHE Definition of IWRM Water
management concept)
CGIAR Water Management Concept
(IWRM for agricultural ecosystem
management)
GWP IWRM Definition
(IWRM for Integrated Water
Resources Management)
IUCN Concept
(Ecosystem based approach)

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
development strategies. Regardless of the initial approach, strategies and plans are
striving to go beyond the actions needed to solve current problems in water and
move towards strategic Integrated Water Management. Implementation at lowest
levels is in general hampered by lack of capacity and reliable data on water resources
and their utilization.
Having all these considerations in mind, GWP (2000) provides a definition of
IWRM:
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process that promotes the
coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in
order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner
without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
It shall be recognized that integrated approaches to water resource management
has regained a lot of attraction because of the food-energy-water nexus (FEWN)
approach, which is an alternative or complementary approach to IWRM championed
by the UN (FAO), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and other
institutions focusing on different perspectives of the nexus between water and food
or water and energy (Hoff 2011). Further philosophical divide has emerged between
those who place yield gains as paramount in the context of population growth and,
Sustainable Intensification (SI) and those who advocate a more agro-ecologically
focused approach based on Sustainable Land Management (SLM) (Cassman 1999)
or a more holistic approaches to ecosystem services (Dore et al. 2011).
Considering the holistic approach introduced by the European Union (EU) a
whole set of specific definitions, objectives and constraints emerge from various
aspects of the water management EC directive 2000/60 (Meire et al. 2008). The
latter include aspects of water quality management, policies, economic aspects,
ecology, price, and sustainable development). Whether driven by knowledge intensive
management or the humanitarian need to alleviate hunger, a key difference between
the three approaches is always the starting point for water resources management.
When considering the inter-relationships between water, land, food and energy GWP
focuses on the catchment area, while the EU and UN-FAO and IWMI base their
consideration on water as a natural resource and water for agriculture, respectively
(van der Bliek et al. 2014).
Thus, IWRM seeks first to ensure the sustainability of water resources; IWRM
recognizes the interdependency between water resources and ecosystems as well
as living creatures therein. It also integrates all types of water users and key
stakeholders in water management and development for equitabledistribution of
the resource. Finally, it shall manage water resources as an economic asset by
integrating all costs incurred by competing uses and interdependent interests to

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achieve Efficiency. With all these different objectives, IWRM can be challenging
and unyielding for implementation on the ground. Concerns relating to the way the
IWRM concept has been interpreted and implemented led researchers to invest in
development of the concept of “light” IWRM (Moriarty et al. 2004) often referred
to as “Integrated Watershed Management” (IWM) in North America (Förch, et al.
(2005, 2006, 2007, 2008).
Implementing the concept of IWRM requires multidisciplinary efforts that
encompass the social and natural sciences and engineering fields to generate integrated
scientific methods and approaches and make good use of the new ICT tools to
rapidly tackle some of the more complex and expanding water, land and ecosystems
issues. Research in this area has seen considerable changes and developments over
recent years. Disciplinary research into issues such as hydrological modelling, the
engineering of irrigation systems, land and soil erosion and the distribution and species
composition of ecosystems has continued with an emphasis on increasing productivity
and sustainability while recent developments have seen increasing demands for
minimizing social, economic and environmental trade-offs (Savenije et al. 2014).
Whilst an attractive idea, this key principle of Integrated Water Resource Management
(IWRM) has been widely adopted and applied at international and regional scales
but with very little or no palpable results in most developing countries. In addition,
different countries within the same region overcome many challenges and meet the
water needs of people respective of their situation and development priorities in their
countries, without considering the transboundary nature of their water catchments.
Paradoxically, the IWRM concept has also been criticized for being: 1) Too broad to
have any real meaning and 2) So narrow that it focuses mainly on water and ignores
important linkages between land and water management (Merrey et al. 2005). In
addition, some critics have argued that as a concept IWRM is naïve and idealistic
(Biswas, 2004). Others have maintained that IWRM takes insufficient account of
the politics that are at the core of most (if not all) important water-related decisions
(Jensen, 2013). Molle (2008) concludes that it is often pretended that all these different
objectives of IWRM can be maximized simultaneously, when in reality there will
nearly always be trade-offs and, at best, only a balance can be achieved. Whilst the
FEW nexus approach has significant merit, it has also attracted criticism for being
unnecessarily limiting and prescriptive, for example, by not explicitly highlighting
inter-linkages with climate change, poverty and pro-poor development (NSF 2016) 1.
However, there are quite a number of examples of it working in practice, especially
at a river basin level (Meire et al. 2008). In order to maximize the contribution of
IWRM to sustainable development and minimize conflicts among stakeholders, a
“light” format of IWRM, often referred to as “Integrated Watershed Management”
(IWM) in North America has been suggested and tested with success in India and
East Africa (Moriarty et al. 2004).

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Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) is the process of managing human
activities and natural resources on a watershed basis. This approach allows us
to protect important water resources, while at the same time addressing critical
issues such as the current and future impacts of rapid growth and climate change.
Watershed management implies a prudent use of the resources such as land, soil,
water, biodiversity and biomass in a watershed for optimum productivity with
minimal disturbance to the environment. Bamutaze et al. (2014) define “Integrated
Watershed Management” (IWM) as follows:
Integrated Watershed Management is a holistic and integrated approach for
sustainable management of a watershed area (...) Integrated Watershed Management
is a process of rational decision making in successive steps. Systematically the
available management options are compared, and a Watershed Management Plan
is developed that is mainly a rural development concept.
Integrated management, as the authors of this paper understand it, aims to
address trade-offs and minimize the negative impacts that might be created by the
actions of one particular sub-sector, stakeholder or time, on others. It seeks to avoid
inefficiencies and conflicts that are a feature of less-integrated approaches. Besides,
in contrast to prescriptive top-down IWRM (Shah and van Koppen. 2006), IWM
or Light IWRM aims to be problem-focused, opportunistic and adaptive/iterative
when applying core IWRM principles, especially at the water-users level. The
intended outcome of applying IWM is a system of managing water resources and
water services delivery that has developed incrementally over many years and, as a
result, is better adapted or tailored to the political economy of a given area.
The concept of IWM puts emphasis the principle of public participation to ensure
inclusiveness and create interactions between the public and private sectors with
the civil society, people of different genders and generations, urban locations and
rural areas to achieve a sustainable management of water resources, as put forward
by the Dublin Principles 2 and 3.
Principle 2: Water development and management should be based on a participatory
approach, involving users, planners and policy-makers at all levels.
Principle 3: Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding
of water.
IWRM values promote gender mainstreaming and intergenerational equity to
build strong partnerships in catchment management. A good case is given by the
provisions made in the constitution of the water users’ associations, which provides

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
a fair share of 50% of female cadres in the management of the associations in a
male dominant cultural setting. This recognition of the key role of women in the
custody of water resources has led to the improvement of many catchment areas.
Increasingly IWM approach is being implemented across the region by Alemu and
Kidane (2014) for instance.
IWM thus implies a move away from traditional sub-sector foci that address
domestic water supply, wastewater, irrigation, industry and the environment
separately (often within different agencies or government departments) to a more
holistic approach. All case studies in Kenya can be used to address problems both
within the regions and specific water user communities across a wide scope of
stakeholders in water resources development and management. Importantly, they
can be used to address problems at the very local level with aggregated effects at
the national, regional and even global levels in view of the preparation of IWRM
specific country strategies and plans. There still remain the sense and need for inter-
sectoral coordination and a solution to implement the approach at larger landscapes
than a small catchment area shaped. Hence the need for national planning actions
that involve bottom-up action plans.
The ideals of both IWM put emphasis on the holistic approach as captured in
the following SDGs:
Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture.
Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation
for all.
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for
sustainable development.
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
The value of integrated watershed management (IWM) focuses on identifying
land or environmental resources such as water and socio-economic potential; for
development and allowing the community and decision-makers to select management
options with least negative impacts. At the strategic level, IWM calls for use of readily
available scientific and other information such as political, cultural, economic and
legal; relevant to the strategy or policy initiative at hand and that can be used to
develop a risk management plan. The risk management plan describes the ways and
means of coping with the predicted risks and managing these to acceptable levels.

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
AIMS OF THE STUDY
This chapter provides a case study on the role played through the participatory process
within IWM with the planning right from the lowest level at the sub-catchment level
and eventually contributing to catchment management. The Integrated Watershed
Management Network (IWMNet) led by Universität Siegen (Germany) and hosted
by Kenyatta University (Kenya) contributed to this participatory processes, thereby
catalyzing the sub catchment management plans (SCMPs) for management the
water resources. Already, WRMA was mandated with formation of Water Resource
User Associations (WRUAs) as stipulated in Section 15(5) of the Water Act 2002
(GoK 2002),
(…) the catchment management strategy shall encourage and facilitate the
establishment and operation of WRUAs as fora for conflict resolution and co-
operative management of water resources in catchment areas.
The chapter analyzes the opportunities and challenges resulting from the
participatory planning, management, monitoring and evaluation process through
“DAAD Alumni Summer Schools” held in Meru (Kenya) from 2006 to 2008 are
also presented. A survey involving 68 (out of 100) participants of the above summer
schools and a documentary review on the developments of the water sector in Kenya
guided the study.
With the capacity acquired during the implementation of the Water Act 2002, water
sector actors are more equipped to effect the revisions and amendments required for
compliance to the devolved water governance system enshrined in the Constitution
of Kenya 2010 (GoK 2010). The enactment and implementation of the new water
rules by local stakeholders at county level as well will be guided by good practices
and lessons learned from the IWM capacity building process. Prior to this review,
let us revisit the concept of Integrated Watershed Management.
Application of Integrated Watershed Management in Kenya
In the Kenya, the enactment of the Water Act 2002 (GoK 2002) saw the start of
the implementation of the water sector reforms (Table 2). These reforms were
propelled by the mounting pressure of water to support the development activities
of a rapidly increasing population coupled with degradation of the water catchment
areas (GoK 2013).
There were persistent problems in water resources management as well as service
provision caused by centralized governance, the lack of investments and a weak
enforcement of existing water laws. The Water Act provided for the formation of a

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
Table 2. Kenya response to water resource management in 2002
Achieving water sustainability requires integrated approaches towards catchment management (Förch et
al., 2005; Cap-Net et al., 2007). The latter involves a strong cooperation between upstream and downstream
stakeholders. Ngigi and Macharia (2007) report that this has never been a priority for the political class
leading the water sector in Kenya from 1963 (independence) to 1997. In effect, the reforms initiated in 1965
targeted the improvement of water quality and quantity through adequate financing mechanisms (GoK,
1965). This was reiterated by the “Water for all by 2000” motto upheld by the 1974 National Water Master
Plan (NWMP), which led to establishment of a national water development corporation in 1988. The first
guidelines for community participation appear in 1997, when the government invited the private sector to
take part to a decentralised form of water governance. These guidelines were formally released in 1999 as the
National Policy on Water Resource Management and Development (GoK, 1999). They were enacted as law
under the Water Act 2002 (GoK, 2002).
Figure 1 illustrates well the separation of roles and mandates introduced by the Water Act 2002:
1. Water resource management moved away from the supply of water and sewerage services;
2. Water policy-making departed from its daily administration;
3. Creation of a Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) alongside a Water Resources Management
Authority (WRMA);
4. Permitting of dozens of Water Service Providers (WSP) in major cities of the country and recognition
of hundreds of Water Resources Users’ Associations (WRUAs); and
5. Creation of Water Appeal Boards (WABs) for dispute arbitration.
The promulgation of a new national constitution in Kenya in 2010 led to a devolved system of water
management, which draft policy and act are still pending for enactment (GoK, 2010; Nyongesa, 2013).
In the year 2012 a new bill was introduced to parliament to align the provisions of the Water Act 2002
to the devolution enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 (GoK, 2010; 2014). This gave way to the
development of the National Water Master Plan 2030 (JICA and GoK, 2013).
Source: Luwesi, CN, Shisanya, CA and Obando, JA. (2012). Warming and Greening: The Dilemma facing
Green Water Economy under Changing Hydro-Climatic Conditions in Muooni Catchment (Machakos, Kenya).
Saarbrüken: Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 20-22.
Figure 1. Legal framework under the Water Act 2002
Source: GoK, 2002.

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) in 2003 as the lead agency for
national water resources management, which is responsible for the management
of lakes, aquifers and rivers, among other functions. Thus the water resources
management system was changed from administrative basis to the five main
catchment areas (Figure 2). After the enactment of the Water Act 2002, the GoK has
been implementing water sector reforms and several other developments have since
taken place that contribute to the management of water resources. Indeed, within the
devolved government, chapter 5 of the Constitution of Kenya (GoK 2010) stresses the
need for catchment area conservation encompassing biodiversity and land, soil, forest
and water resources. Furthermore, more recently, the National Water Master Plan
(GoK 2013) and the Masterplan for the conservation and sustainable management
of water catchment areas in Kenya (GoK 2012) have also been informed by the work
Figure 2. Five water catchment areas of Kenya
Source: WRMA 2010.

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
spearheaded by the participatory planning for sub-catchments. The Kenya Vision
2030 (GoK 2007) can only be achieved with proper implementation framework
and planning of water resources so as to manage them sustainably within the scope
of affordable water demands in tandem with the respect of natural ecosystems’
thresholds while conserving the catchment.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM IWM
CAPACITY BUILDING IN KENYA
Opportunities Arising From Participatory
IWM Learning Process
Results show that through North-South cooperation, the Center for International
Capacity Development (CICD) of the Universität Siegen established a network for
Capacity Building on Integrated Watershed Management (IWMNet) in Eastern and
Southern Africa. The latter encompassed several universities, including Kenyatta
University (Kenya), Makerere University (Uganda) and the University of Dar es
Salaam (Tanzania), to name but a few. This network has enhanced the teaching
and research of IWRM and IWM programmes at postgraduate level using different
media and options, including course works (in situ and online), fieldworks and
summer schools.
The summer schools aimed at building their capacity to gather information
from the ground, to analyze the problems, to plan and solve them, based on their
own understanding. They used a theory of change underlying the role of German
Universities’ alumni in facilitating the transfer of professional expertise and know-how
in IWM to local stakeholders. This included academic knowledge and competence
transfer, and the use of holistic and interdisciplinary approaches toward problem
assessment and resolution during participatory fieldworks. Hence, the capacity
building process focused on developing participatory sub-catchment management
plans (SCMP) to empower the Water Resource Users’ Associations (WRUAs) to
formulate IWM problems, plan for adequate solutions and implement them as they
monitor the achievements. Thus, the WRUA would play the most important role in
the IWM process, both as key stakeholders and beneficiaries (Table 3).
The SCMP serves as framework for the management of the water and related land
resources in the catchment and it outlines how the concept of integrated watershed
management (IWM) can be implemented at the sub catchment level.
Figure 3 shows how the other participants to the summer schools played different
roles to exchange ideas on integrated methods of managing watersheds. These
participants came from different backgrounds encompassing geographers, engineers,

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
Table 3. Water rules enforcement in the Tana Basin, Kenya
1.1 Bwathonaro Water Resources Users’ Association
Background Information
Bwathonaro Sub-Catchment is one of the first sub-catchments within Kenya in general, and the Tana River
Catchment Area in particular, where the IWM capacity building programme was implemented through
the summer school models. Geographically, the Bwathonaro catchment is bounded by latitude 37O 53´00´´
E and 38O 05´ 00´´ E and 0O 12´ 00´´ N and 0O 21´ 00´´ N. The catchment drains the Kithetu, Maua, Sanga,
Buathini, Ikombo and Kiraro Hills that are part of the Nyambene volcanic system. The drainage is through
the Bwathonaro River system in the South-East direction into the Meru National Park. The upper catchment
above the Meru National Park covers an area of 149 km2.
In order to ensure effective management of water resources and facilitate conflict resolution within the
catchment area, Bwathonaro Water Resources Users’ Association (BWARUA) developed a Sub-Catchment
Management Plan (SCMP) with the support of WRMA, the Universität Siegen (Germany) and Kenyatta
University (Kenya) in 2006. The latter implemented, monitored and evaluated in a participatory way during a
period of three years following its inception in 2005. Positive results as well as challenges have been outlined
below to give an overview of BWARUA’s experience on enforcement of water rules in Kenya.
BWARUA’s Achievements
BWARUA’s Visionwas to “assure availability of water resources for the wellbeing of all people in the
Bwathonaro Catchment”. Therefore, its Missiondealt with ‘protecting the catchment, to ensure availability of
good water quality and sustainable management of the environment’. From 2006-2009, BWARUA’s Goal was
to “plan and work towards an environmentally and socio-economically healthy watershed that benefits the
communities living in the Bwathonaro watershed”.
Committed to its vision, mission and goal, BWARUA assigned to itself the following targets, which it
achieved:
1. Improved water quality at source through control and management of sources of pollution;
2. Reduced conflicts over water arising from illegal water abstractions and over-abstractions for irrigation
through enforcement of the Water Act 2002 rules on water abstraction
3. Promotion of efficient irrigation practices;
4. Conservation and management of the water resources in the catchment through protection and
rehabilitation of water sources such as springs and wetlands;
5. Promotion of ‘agro-forestry’ in the catchment;
6. Awareness creation on the danger of planting water unfriendly trees at the expense of local indigenous
trees;
7. Minimization of soil erosion through soil conservation measures;
8. Reduced cases of human-wildlife conflicts through maintenance of reserve flows entering the Meru
National Park; and
9. Enhanced cooperation with relevant stakeholders.
The WRUA made several sensitization meetings to inform the public on the dangers of illegal activities in
the Bwathonaro river system, including its tributaries. Water users were therefore informed on the process
of acquiring water abstraction permits. Through the WRMA office in Meru, all the water projects within
the catchment were given pre-conditions in their water permit, notably to install master meter and water
controlling devices. Moreover, communities possessing several water projects within the Bwathonaro
catchment were sensitized on the payment of water use charges during public meetings. This led to a
reduction of illegal water abstractions and over-abstractions in the catchment along with increased water
revenues collected by WRMA.
Further, the need to protect springs for recharge was noted, and by 2010 Gitwe, Kathithi, Makutano Nkanga
and Matiandui springs had been protected. The Athindi wetland likewise was fenced and the vegetation
regenerated enhancing the general environment. An emphasis was put on catchment conservation and
protection during sensitization and awareness meetings through public meetings. Community members were
informed on the benefits accrued from good conservation and protection measures put in place. Riparian land
owners agreed to conserve within the riparian zone, thus leading to improved natural water recharge after
protection and conservation of the riparian land within catchment area.
continued on next page

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1.1 Bwathonaro Water Resources Users’ Association
Background Information
Challenges Related to Water Stress and Conflicts
Bwathonaro is a water scarce catchment, and therefore one of the BWARUA objectives was to prevent and
resolve any conflicts related to water resource use. Conflict resolution was done in conjunction with WRMA
and/ or the local provincial administration. To prevent conflicts, water projects requesting water use permits
within the catchment had to make their applications to WRMA office. The latter would be forwarded to
BWARUA for validation and seconding, to ascertain whether the application would likely increase the risks
of water stress and conflicts, or impact on water quality. That is how the WRUA has been able to manage the
challenge related to water stress and conflicts arising from illegal water abstractions and over-abstractions.
1.2 Ngaciuma-Kinyaritha Water Resources Users Association
1.2.4 Background Information
Ngaciuma-Kinyaritha is a sub-catchment of about 167 Km2 located at longitudes 37.5o E and 37.75o E,
and latitudes 0.04o N and 0.15o N within Imenti North Constituency of Meru County of Kenya. It has a
population estimated to 65,000 people in 2010. Almost all the rivers originate from Mount Kenya Forest
and generally flow eastwards to join Kathita River. Like for BWARUA, Ngakinya Water Resource Users’
Association (NGAKINYA WRUA) was among the first WRUAs to be formed in the Tana Catchment
Area to implement a process that involved stakeholders’ participation in the management of Ngaciuma and
Kinyaritha sub-catchments. To achieve this participatory water resources management a plan was developed
in 2007 with the support of WRMA, the Universität Siegen (Germany) and Kenyatta University (Kenya).
This plan was smoothly executed over the 3 years following its inception. The first monitoring and evaluation
activity in Ngaciuma-Kinyaritha was conducted in November 2008, and covered activities of 8 months, the
implementation being interrupted by the post-election violence that consumed the country from December
2007 to March 2008. Moreover, a water demand management plan was developed during the DAAD Alumni
Summer School 2008, and it was to be implemented in the short-term (0-2 years) and the medium-term (2-5
years).
1.2.5 NGAKINYA WRUA’s Achievements
NGAKINYA WRUA was founded with a Vision of‘ensuring the availability of adequate amount and good
quality water resources for the well being of all the people and the environment in the sub-catchment’.
Consequently, its Mission consisted of ‘involving the community and stakeholders to protect, regulate,
equitably allocate and conserve water resources’ with the Goal of ‘working toward socio-economic and
environmental sustainability of the sub-catchment’.
The following targets have been successfully achieved for the period 2007-2010:
1. Control of illegal water abstractions and over abstractions;
2. Promotion of efficient and beneficial use of every water drop abstracted;
3. Dissemination of efficient soil and water conservation practices;
4. Improved management and development of water resources for sustainable use; and
5. Establishment of a frank cooperation between different stakeholders involved in the management and
conservation of the Ngaciuma and Kinyaritha riparian lands.
In 2009, the WRUA enumerated 351 water abstractors in Ngaciuma and Kinyaritha sub-catchments.
Agriculturalists were among the most important water abstractors (79.4%) while householders, institutions
and Industrialists accounted for 15.8 and 4.8% of the total water abstractions, respectively. In the agricultural
sector, water use for irrigation represents the highest water demand. Water use for domestic purposes is
higher in urban areas (54%) rather than rural areas (46%). The water resources in the catchment are mainly
from springs that feed Ngaciuma and Kinyaritha streams. Other water sources are insignificant and include
boreholes and roof catchments for rainwater harvesting. However, these water resources are inefficiently
managed owing to poor irrigation practices, limited use of water harvesting methods and high level of illegal
abstraction. To curb this trend, Ngakinya WRUA advices WRMA in the allocation and authorization of water
permits for any type of work and application falling within its catchment area.
continued on next page
Table 3. Continued

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1.1 Bwathonaro Water Resources Users’ Association
Background Information
1.2.6 Challenges Related to Water Stress and Conflicts
During dry periods, water use conflicts escalate, owing to the depletion of the available water resources. To
minimize this tension, and in accordance with the Water Act 2002, the WRUA with support from WRMA
successfully enhanced the enforcement of water rules to ensure that every water users is catered for within
the limits of policies that improve water use efficiency. To that regard, the principles of have been much
appreciated by local stakeholders as being fundamental for sustainable management of their scarce water
resources in a participatory and gender sensitive approach. By them recognizing the economic value of water
and committing themselves financially to WRMA efforts, all stakeholders were keen ensuring that resources
generated through revenue collection were reinvested in catchment conservation to enhance water flows and
good water quality
Source: WRMA. (2010). Enforcement of Water Use Charges and Water Quality Thresholds in Kenya.
WRMA Evaluation Training Workshop. Meru: Three Steers Hotel, 24-28 January 2010, pp. 43-47.
Figure 3. Roles played by different categories during the summer schools
Source: Förch and Ngonzo, 2009.
Table 3. Continued

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Kenya Success Story in Water Resources Management
foresters, agriculturalists, social scientists, economists, other scientific fields and
local stakeholders. However, three key actors were pointed out in the participatory
learning process, namely DAAD Alumni (including professors, professionals and
students), WRMA officials (representatives of the Water Resources Management
Authority) and WRUA members (mainly local stakeholders and other professionals).
First, DAAD alumni were invited to train other participants in watershed planning,
management, monitoring and evaluation processes, as well as in methodological
approaches pertaining to IWM. WRMA officials were called in order to provide a
keen interpretation of the law and of governmental policies. And WRUA members
were the major beneficiaries of the summer schools. They were also regarded as
major representatives for community interests, awareness creation on the water sector
reform, and summer schools participants’ guidance on key issues occurring on the
ground. Students and other stakeholders were invited to ensure the sustainability of
the summer schools’ impact through further awareness creation, scientific research,
etc. Then, a progressive change of attitudes, behaviors and working methods would
follow in the management of water resources. WRMA officials were able to explain
more adequately principal regulations on water resources and their implementation in
the watershed. Once in the field, they adopted participatory approaches to implement
water rules with regard to water use charges and effluent discharge control plans.
This enabled them monitoring illegal water abstractions and protect the catchments
with the support of the WRUAs working within the six large basins of the country,
namely: Athi, Ewaso-Ngiro, Lake Victoria North, Lake Victoria South, Rift-Valley,
and Tana.
The relevance of interdisciplinary approaches was overemphasized as a channel
for enabling scientists from different fields to work together with local stakeholders
in IWM. Community members and other key stakeholders were trained by Alumni
and outside consultants on concepts and field techniques pertaining to IWM. They
had at the same time the opportunity to share their experiences in the field during
workshops and fieldworks. WRUA members had a chance to monitor and evaluate
watershed management by assessing their achievements and measuring the success
of their former plans. They also set measurable indicators for the work they had to
perform in the following periods (financial years). At the end of the process, they
made recommendations for optimizing the implementation of their plans on the
basis of their findings in the field. Indeed, Ondieki (2013), indicates that emphasis
should be place on collaborative efforts and use of sustainable best practices would
require input of various stakeholders including WRMA, Basin Authorities and
National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA). In less than two years,
this mismatch of participants brought the message a long way to 292 sub-catchments
across the country. According to WRMA (2010), by the end of the year 2009,
30% among these WRUAs had already matured in IWRM (Box 2). Also, illegal

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water abstractions had been reduced by approximately 30% in the upper parts of
most of the catchments, and 70% in the middle and lower zones. Also, about KES
126,104,300 (about US$ 1,801,490) were raised from water users in 2009. Finally,
about 21.9% of large scale water users and 78.1% small scale ones were complying
with the new regulations. Finally, only 7 cases of gross offenses were filed to Water
Appeal Boards (WABs), decision was made and parties complied with the ruling
of the WABs (WRMA, 2010).
Participating Alumni and outside consultants therefore played the role of facilitators
in the learning process. They restrained themselves from checking and judging the
outcomes of local stakeholders’ decisions based on their personal opinions. The fact
that these summer schools offered a good environment for acquiring and sharing
knowledge was attested by long discussions, case studies and explanations evoked
by the participants. The role of stakeholders in sustainable watershed management
has further been underscored by other studies (Obando et al., 2015; Ondieki, 2013,
Shisanya et al., 2010). Further assessments of the capacity building process in IWM
include, Forch and Luwesi, (2011, 2010, 2009); and Luwesi et al., (2010)
Finally, the summer schools offered them an opportunity to water sector
professionals and agencies to network, cooperate and exchange their experiences.
For instance, in an the EU Water Facility funded the IWMNet project, but it has
become a very strong network for IWRM capacity building in East Africa, thus
enabling local institutions to receive funding from other donors, notably AFD,
AfDB, CIDA, DANIDA, DfID, KfW, JICA, SIDA, USAID, the World Bank, and
others. After the closure of the IWMNet/ EU Project, the Center for International
Capacity Development (CICD) of the Universität Siegen (Germany) established
partnerships with the six universities of eastern and southern Africa and water
ministries in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (including the WRMA and WRUAs).
There is a strong partnership between these institutions and their development
partners. This has been illustrated by periodic meetings held in each country to
harmonize the concepts and policies, and increase accountability among partners.
These have opened a route to WRMA officers; WRUA and community members
to change their attitudes toward the water sector reforms, and thus use innovative
and efficient methods for managing their natural resources.
CHALLENGES ARISING FROM PARTICIPATORY
IWRM LEARNING APPROACHES
The participation of professionals from several research fields alongside people from
diverse social backgroundsoften inhibited the freedom of speech of many among
local stakeholders. DAAD Alumni may have dominated the discussions using their

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strong theoretical backgrounds. This was substantiated by interminable debates
during which representatives of WRUAs and WRMA, and other key beneficiaries
of the summer schools were out of track. Also, their participation to the planning,
monitoring and evaluation processes could have been factual. It may have been more
interesting for Alumni to go straight to the business by showing the practicality of
the theories on the ground through problems identification and resolution. This
would have avoided miscommunications among participants. Though their input was
also well appreciated by all the participants during case studies, WRMA officials
displayed a defensive attitude, so as to “protect” the interpretation of the law and of
governmental policies. By so doing, they concealed some weaknesses that needed
to be addressed during the summer schools. Also, being the main providers of
funds to WRUAs, their defensive attitudes would have threatened WRUA members,
discouraging them to interact and express themselves freely on those weaknesses.
This might have been one of the reasons why some participants felt that the summer
schools were not such environments enabling free cooperation and easy interaction
among participants, despite the fact that a majority among them rejected such a
statement. Concerning WRUA members, their guidance in the field, reports from
the previous summer schools, and the lack of clear records on achievements and
financial matters are key highlights of their involvement in the participatory learning
process. WRUA members usually targeted some sites where there were apparent
achievements from the planned activities, even though these activities may have
been achieved by other social groups. Such self-defensive attitude may have distorted
the results of the monitoring and evaluation process. Therefore, more exposure is
needed in the future, to allow thorough investigations and acquaintances with the
WRUA management tools, methods and realizations.
GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED
The lessons learned from the evaluation process can be categorized at five levels
as summarized in Table 4.
WRMA officials have particularly learned how to measure the actual impact
of their Catchment Management Strategy (CMS) on the ground using continuous
assessment tools of the environment and, monitoring and evaluation of the management
process. Therefore, local communities have been empowered with capabilities to
manage effectively their vulnerable water resources and related resources using
their financial and material means as well as their human resources. These local
communities were offered opportunities to network with all stakeholders living in
the watershed, to cooperate and to share relevant information on the new water laws,
policies and regulations. Interrelations between different stakeholders were known

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through a logical design defining the functions of some and roles of others, and the
type of relation or cooperation existing among them. They were encouraged to support
the enforcement of the IWM principles in their respective watersheds. An emphasis
was put on rules related to equitable allocation and use of the resources among
homogenous hydrological units and different groups of stakeholders and interests
to sustain water balance and gender equity. An agreement was to be made with all
stakeholders on the future quantity and quality of water resources to be conserved.
For that purpose, WRMA was to set measurable standards of water protection and
storage, good land husbandry and conservation. Local stakeholders were expected to
use their technical know-how for identifying the issues on the stake, setting agenda
and developing plans for addressing the issues of water scarcity and conflicts on
resource use. The summer schools provided them with an enabling environment for
training on water policies implementation, strategic and operational management,
institutional coordination of efforts made by local stakeholders, and monitoring and
evaluation of watershed management. Political and technical strategic issues were
articulated into management tools and merging organizational tools such as water
sector reform legislations, policies, programmes, tactical projects, budget lines and
schedules, functional and relational designs.
CONCLUSION
Solving issues of water stress and scarcity requires the formulation of common,
integrated, sustainable approaches for managing the water system from a
multidisciplinary perspective, and the definition of new professional skills,
requirements which become even more evident where transboundary areas are
concerned. In order to take decisions in an equitable, sustainable, and ethical fashion,
water resource management does in fact call for extensive knowledge of the complex
relationships between citizens and their water system. Integrated Water Resource
Management (IWRM) is an approach designed to achieve sustainable development.
Table 4. Lessons learned
1. Stakeholders’ sensitization is the starting point for a progressive change of attitudes toward a reform.
2. Sustainable management of natural resources requires stakeholders’ participation in planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
3. A good evaluation of the success of the water sector reform is done where both biophysical and socio-
economic data are available.
4. The cost of water shall be understood as a key to water security and as a response to the Sustainable
Development Goals.
5. Stakeholder involvement in the management of the water sector shall be perceived as a value added to
good governance and sustainable development.

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It offers a way to manage competing demands for water and the linkages across
sectors. The IWRM core principle can be described as the recognition that water is
a public good with both social and economic values. A major challenge in IWRM
is managing different interests of different sectors and users that might conflict. The
ecosystem requires a basic amount of water to remain its integrity and to replenish
(Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2014). Though Kenya can be credited for having
succeeded to initiate and implement a participatory water governance system, despite
various financing and investment challenges, it has another challenge of implementing
the water rules to be enacted soon according the devolution system enshrined in the
Constitution of Kenya 2010. Besides, the country has to get prepared to tackle water
deficits arising from the increasing water demands while the resources are likely
to deplete by 2100. Hence, the country shall capitalize on the good practices and
lessons learned from the IWM capacity building process. The activities prioritized
include; awareness creation on water scarcity and environmental trends, water
allocation and conflict resolution, pollution control, catchment rehabilitation and
conservation, WRUA financing, monitoring and evaluation.
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ENDNOTE
1 Also check on available posts on http://www.water-energy-food.org/en/news/
view__1612/the-nexus-approach-vs-iwrm-gaining-conceptual-clarity.html