COCOON-INITIATIVE-KENYA INFOSHEET 2

Water Resource User Associations in the Upper

Ewaso Ng’iro river basin – Do they function? Kenya’s water reforms of 2002

In 2002 the Kenyan government launched a

new Water Act which introduced

comprehensive and radical changes to the

legal framework of the water sector in the

country. The Act recognizes a crucial role for

the local community in managing water

resources. Organized in Water Resource User

Associations (WRUAs), local people are

considered an important player in the

management of water resources. These

associations, though, build on voluntary

membership rather than institutionalized

structures such as local authorities. The

reason is the belief that, being voluntary in

nature, the WRUAs will draw really committed

members (Mumma, 2007).

Objectives of WRUAs

The key objectives of a WRUA are:

• Promote controlled and legal water use

• Promote efficient and sustainable use of

the water resource;

• Promote water conservation practices to

ensure sufficient water reserves that meet

the demands of the environment, the

wildlife, the livestock and all the

communities

• To work towards reducing and solving

conflict in use of the water resource

• Promote catchment conservation

measures.

The above objectives should be realized

through the following activities:

• Exchange of information and ideas on the

water resource use;

• Discuss potential projects and

developments that may affect water

usage with a view to obtain the consent of

other WRUA members and the public;

• Resolve conflicts on water use;

• Monitor water availability and use;

• Lobby for resources to improve

availability, reliability, quality or other

aspects of the water resources.

Map 1: The Upper Ewaso Ng’iro river basin

(ILRI 2011)

Water and conflict in the Upper Ewaso Ng’iro

Basin

The Upper Ewaso Ng’iro River Basin is located

to the north of Mt Kenya and is an important

source of water for humans, wildlife,

agriculture, and tourism. The upper basin

covers an area of 15,200 km2, approximately

6% of the Ewaso Ng’iro North Drainage Basin.

Over the years both demand for and supply of

river water has seen changes. In the last

decades, the basin faced major changes in its

socio-economic situation through rapid

population growth, both natural and through

immigration, and a subsequent land use

transformation. These changes have resulted

in a society where several stakeholders claim

access to natural resources. Pastoralists,

commercial livestock ranches, the tourist

industry, small-scale and large-scale farmers

are now competing over increasingly scarce

land and water resources. Historical analyses

of river flow data show declining trends of

water volumes. Although rainfall figures do

not show a degrading pattern, the onset of

the rains seems to become less predictable

and extremes are becoming more

pronounced.

Fig. 1: Enough water available for economic

activities? (Fieldwork 2011)

The most important problem according to 150

households interviewed in 2011 is the large

amount of river water abstractions due to the

rise in agricultural activities. As the demand

for water rises continuously while already

stressed supplies remain the same, the

possibility of water use conflicts increases.

The formation of WRUAs

From 1998 to 2010 WRUAs were set up in the

Upper Ewaso Ng’iro basin. The WRUAs are

managed by a management committee which

consists of 15 members representing different

groups of water users and different areas in

which the WRUA is present.

Fig. 2: WRUA management structure

From within the management committee a

chairman, secretary and treasurer are elected.

The establishment of these community-based

management structures was in most cases

triggered by the emergence of conflicts among

users. Often outside assistance was needed to

initiate these user groups and was mostly

provided by NGOs and large scale farmers.

The WRUA activities centered around water

management and prevention of conflict.

The functioning and effects of WRUAs

Research was conducted in four areas

managed by different WRUAs in the Upper

Ewaso Ng’iro basin. Most people interviewed

are of the opinion that the WRUA manages

and controls the water resources well which in

general leads to more water available. People

point out WRUAs organizing meetings for

raising awareness is the most important

explanation for the increased cooperation.

Therefore, WRUAs do have a positive

influence on the availability of water

resources in the area. Officials of the national

Water Resource Management Authority

(WRMA) stated that WRUAs are very active in

supporting small scale household water

conservation projects and in promoting the

efficient use of water. These two activities

strengthen the potential availability of water

at household level.

Picture 1: Water rationing announcement

Building on this increased awareness among

the people, NGO employees involved in water

provision find it easier to explain the reasons

for the measures which are taken to manage

the water. Therefore WRUAs can now

effectively implement the water rationing

schemes in the dry season.

Fig. 3: Water and conflicts (Fieldwork 2011)

Fieldwork also shows that the WRUAs are able

to solve many water-related conflicts. There

are three main reasons for this reduction of

conflict. Firstly, the WRUAs act as forums for

conflict resolution. The WRUAs are an easily

accessible platform for discussion when there

are issues between various users. WRUA

officials, being members of the community,

are in many cases able to arrange these

discussions. So many quarrels are solved

trough dialogue. Finally, the WRUAs created

awareness among both the upstream and

downstream members of their

interconnectedness within the community. In

case of the upstream members, the WRUAs

promote efficient water use and water

storage. Upstream people realize that their

water use directly influences the people living

downstream. And downstream members are

taught that other solutions than violence are

available in times of water shortage. Instead

of getting into physical fights with upstream

users WRUA officials promote their

involvement to solve these troubles.

Overall the people interviewed indicated that

WRUAs have had a positive influence on water

availability and conflict mitigation, but they

also mentioned that scarcity and conflicts are

more severe than ten years ago and expect a

further rise.

Challenges

Some challenges remain. Many WRUAs are

still lacking sufficient levels of professionalism,

both in the field of water management as well

as in the field of prevention and resolution of

conflicts. The lack of implementing capacity is

most serious. Also, many WRUAs are in need

of financial resources. As a result several

WRUAs are not able to put in place all the

measures needed. These challenges can be

overcome if WRUAs get more support in

training and finance.

The Future

The future of the WRUAs could be brighter if

some key issues are taken into account.

1. WRUAs should pursue another capacity

building model. Instead of training a limited

number of committee members during a few

days only, a different approach should be

taken. Not only the committee but also

community members should be trained. Guide

all of them through a training programme and

hold their hand for a while. This should be a

continuous process over a longer period of

time.

Picture 2: Training communiy members

(Fieldwork 2011)

2. Most communities will need a full-time

professional manager as an addition to the

management committee to effectively rum

the WRUA. The combination of local

knowledge as found within the community

combined with the expertise of a skilled

manager makes a WRUA more effective.

The above recommendations call for a

devolution of financial means to the level of

the WRUA.

References

Aarts, J. (2012) Will Community-based Water

Management Solve Africa’s Water Problems? The

performance of Water Resource User Associations

in the Upper Ewaso Ng’iro river basin, Kenya.

Nijmegen: MA thesis Radboud University.

ILRI (2011) Mapping and Valuing Ecosystem

Services in the Ewaso Ng’ro Watershed, Nairobi,

ILRI & GEOMAPA.

Mumma, A. (2007) Kenya’s new water law: an

Analysis of the implications of Kenya’s water act,

2002, for the rural poor.

Authors: Joost Aarts and Marcel Rutten

Contact: Joost_aarts@hotmail.com or

Rutten@ascleiden.nl

Or visit our website:

http://www.iucn.org/wisp/our_projects_in_wisp/cocoon/