WATERSHED MANAGEMENT IN KENYA

BY Joshua Onchong’a

According to John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer a watershed is: that area of land, a
bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their
common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become
part of a community [1].

In simple terms a watershed could be defined as the area of land where all of the water that is
under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.

Watershed management on the other hand is the study of the relevant characteristics of a
watershed aimed at the sustainable distribution of its resources and the process of creating and
implementing plans, programs, and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions that
affect the plant, animal, and human communities within a watershed boundary

Features of a watershed that agencies seek to manage include water supply, water quality,
drainage, storm-water runoff, water rights, and the overall planning and utilization of watersheds.
Landowners, land use agencies, storm-water management experts, environmental specialists,
water use surveyors and communities all play an integral part in the management of a watershed
[2].

Watershed management is not just about the physical environment but also the human
environment. While the physical factor plays an important role in determining the type of
watershed management suitable for a particular geographical region, the socio cultural and
economic aspects influences the type finally adopted by the land users as well as the rate of
adoption and the success of the adopted technologies [3]. The major socio-cultural and economic
factors include:
1. Land tenure
2. Capital
3. Labour
4. Perception and beliefs
5. Gender
It is along these lines of social cultural and economic aspect that the challenges of water shade
management as emanate taking the case study of Kenya.

Examples of water shed management areas in Kenya

Water shed management in the Ewaso Ngiro North Basin in the Mt. Kenya area

In this area, the upstream region is the mountain which provides water by high precipitation and
low evaporation rate. The lower region area obtains water from the high areas through rivers
whose source are from the mountain. This is an assurance that there is provision of water
throughout the year since the rivers are perennial.

The Mau water catchment, the lake Victoria basin and athi river are also examples of watersheds
in Kenya [4].

Challenges of watershed management in Kenya

1. Land tenure: Land tenure is the terms and conditions on which land and other natural
resources (such as trees and water) are held and used. Resources are usually categorized into
management regimes so as to understand the manner in which they are owned, accessed,
controlled, and used.There are four Resource Management Regimes; Private regime, State
property regime, Open access (non property regime), Common property regime. The
property regimes pause the following challenges in water shed management:

I. In Kenya, state property regime (Rights of ownership and management of natural

resources are vested in the state i.e. government) has paused great challenges on
watershed management State owned and management properties are not always the
best managed. This is usually true where control of the manner in which the resources
are used is not properly regulated. For instance, currently the Mau water catchment
which is the source of a good number of the rivers in Lake Victoria basin is severely
degrading; a problem attributable to ‘illegal settlement/occupation’ in the forests. The
Mara River which the wild beasts cross to and from Tanzania/Kenya is also
threatened by the massive destruction of the Mau catchment.
 II. Open access regimes are usually associated with degradation of resources due to lack
of individual or group control. There is usually stiff competition for resources with
minimal regard for their usefulness in the future since the principle of ‘first come first
served’ is operational. After all if ‘I’ don’t exploit the resources ‘somebody else’ will.
The urge to ‘benefit’ as much as possible and more than any other land user results in
massive destruction of the resources. This leads to destruction of watersheds
III. Common Property Regimes/Common Pool Resources (CPR): Rights of ownership
and access are vested on a single entity and limited to an identifiable community
which has set rules on the way those resources are to be managed. In most common
property regimes the rules on resource extraction always appear to some authority
higher than the individual users or any sub-set of users. Such authority could emanate
from the area chief, a democratic governing body, and a government agency among
others. Common property management regimes are well-established in formal
institutions as well as informal one based on customs or kinship etc. These groups
hold customary ownership of certain resources such as farmland, grazing land and
water resources. Non-members are excluded from the use of resources managed by a
different group. For example- land among the traditional pastoral communities e.g.
the maasai is controlled on customary tenure basis usually by a group. The leaders of
the group or a council of elders allocate ‘user rights’ on portion of the land to various
individuals or families. As long as those individuals use their plot, no other person
has the right to use it or to benefit from its produce. The present land user holds use
right and is not allowed to transfer the ownership or the use of the land to another
individual.CPR is commonly associated with watershed degradation especially in
cases where rapid population growth or change in land tenure threatens the social
fabric in which the system operates.
2. Capital: Watershed management is a capital demanding exercise. Unless land users have
sufficient resources, they cannot engage in successful watershed management. For example
labour is required for the construction of water harvesting structures, terraces, planting of
trees. Labour is costly and beyond the reach of majority of land users majority of whom are
poverty stricken. Therefore resource-disadvantaged land users will most likely not engage in
meaningful watershed management. For instance, most of the land users in Kenya are capital
 deficient. This problem is attributed to the fact that majority of these farmers are subsistence
producers without a surplus to market for an income. Low incomes means that the farmers’
savings are too small to be translated into consequential investment in watershed
management. Such farmers cannot adopt green revolution technology. As a result farm yields
are low; no surplus is realized and farmers’ incomes remain low. What this means is that
these types of farmers are actually trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty; a problem that
impedes their watershed management effort.
3. The Environment-Poverty Nexus: Poverty stricken people are critically environment-
dependent. They often depend on environment for their livelihoods (fish, timber, wild fruits,
charcoal, food, medicine). Some of these products are consumed directly and meet
subsistence needs at household level or are sold for cash creating the so called ‘environment
income” which is increasingly becoming recognized as an important source of income.
However, due to poverty land users use the available resources unsustainably a problem that
has led to their degradation.
Examples:
 Deforestation and wanton destruction of vegetation:
 Over cultivation and overgrazing making the land very vulnerability to agents of
soil erosion
 Over use of water resources leading to water degradation
4. Labour: Labor is another vital component in watershed management. It is actually the most
limiting constraint of most smallholder land users in Kenya in the adoption and sustenance of
watershed management techniques. Competition for labor is usually intense among arduous
activities such as constructing terraces, other farm activities as well as off farm employment.
5. Cultural factors: The cultural factor has as strong impact on adoption of land management
measures. In actual fact some components of production are driven by a need to preserve
social standing or even to enhance prestige. Among some cultures weddings and funerals are
associated with an elaborate show of wealth. To pay for this, farmers could have to over use
their land. For example it is culturally correct to keep large numbers of livestock among
pastoral communities. Since time immemorial pastoral communities such as the Maasai. The
major reasons advanced for this practice include the following.
  Harsh environmental conditions: These communities occupy arid to semi-arid zones.
Large herds serve as an ‘insurance policy’ against adverse weather conditions
 Strengthening ones social status: A large herd of animals implies wealth. The larger
the herd the higher ones social status and the more respect they command in the
community

Keeping large herds is today associated with environmental degradation and destruction of
watersheds.

6. Gender: in the recent times rural urban migration in Kenya has been eminent in men.
Therefore in most communities women have been left behind to handle agricultural and
environmental conservation issues. However to this far we do not have any government
programs to empower women especially in rural set ups to carry out watershed management
practises

Solutions to watershed management problems in Kenya

1. Advocating for private property regime to solve land tenure challenges of watershed
management: Rights of ownership are vested on an individual owner, or group defining
his/her rights privileges and limitations for use of a resource which should ideally be
immune from government interference. Other attributes of private property rights are
clarity, exclusivity, universality, transferability and enforceability. A private right assigns
specific access and use to the holder of the rights. Private ownership of land guarantees
security of tenure and is likely to result in the adoption of appropriate and efficient
watershed management strategies.
2. Enacting policies and penalties for uses who cause degradation of watershed in the
domain of community owned and state lands water catchment area.
3. Evacuating people from watersheds such as the Mau forest.
4. The government should provide capital to small holders of land in Kenya who do not
have capital for development and conservation of watersheds.
5. The government to provide ranching option for pastoral communities and give advice on
the land carrying capacities to prevent overstocking that leads to degradation of
watersheds.
 6. Alleviating poverty is both a moral obligation and a prerequisite for environmental
sustainability. Therefore the government should create an enabling environment for job
creation and reduce the coast of other forms of energy such as solar and HEP to reduce
degradation of water catchment areas through deforestation for wood and charcoal.

References

[1] http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/whatis.cfm

[2]Anderson, Scott D,Watershed Management and Nonpoint Source Pollution: The

Massachusetts Approach, Originally published in the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law
Review. 1999.

[3] http://e-
iwm.wikispaces.com/MWM+707+Socio+economic+aspects+in+watershed+management

[4] World Agro forestry Centre. (2006). improved land management in the Lake Victoria basin:
Final report on the TransVic project. Nairobi, Kenya: World Agro forestry Centre.