DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

COURSE: B.Sc. CIVIL ENGINEERING

UNIT NAME: WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING II

UNIT CODE: ECE 5215

ASSIGNMENT 1

NAME REGISTRATION

KIPNGETICH EVANS E024- 01-0841/2017

LECTURER: Ms. ROSEMARY

1. You are asked to design a planning framework to be used to make a river basin
plan?Develop a schematic diagram of your proposed planning framework and name
the major steps you will undertake during the planning process.
Major steps undertaken during the planning process include;
a. Assessment and approach
conducting a situation assessment involves gaining an understanding of the
current and future conditions in the basin, as well as identifying and prioritizing
the key issues
b. Vision and objectives
Formulating a vision and objectives entails spelling out the desired state of the
basin over the long term, together with goals (preliminary objectives) and
principles to achieve this over time
c. Basin Plan
Develop the basin strategies and specify a coherent suite of strategic objectives
and outcomes related to protection, use, disaster management and institutional
development, designed to achieve the vision
d. Implementation
It involves defining actions that give effect to the basin strategies and should
ultimately achieve the vision and objectives.

2. What are the key elements/contents of a good river basin plan?

Protection: environmental state of the water resources in providing goods and services.
Development: social and economic outcomes related to water use, land use or catchment
areas
Disaster Risk: human, property or ecological risks of flooding and other disasters
Institutional: institutional intent for cooperation, collaboration and stewardship
3. Take an example river basin development plan from your country or elsewhere.
Reflect on the planning process followed and enlist major steps.
River Tana Basin Development Work
Steps followed are;
i. The basin development was treated as regional development and integrate river
basin plans into national and regional investments.
ii. Institutional structures were developed to allow planning and coordination at the
whole basin level, whether this be national or international but which involve
regional authorities in the design and implementation of projects.
iii. Time for a balancing was allowed for local, regional and national perspectives on
the kind of changes which should take place
iv. Decision-making procedures which take a broad view of multi-objective
economic analysis allowing environmental social and legal issues to be
incorporated with plans and designs was used
v. Investment procedures used to balance to balance source point of financing
vi. Building of managerial experience
vii. Lastly allow investment plans to evolve as the project unfolds over time.
4. Evaluate how good the plan is and make at least three suggestions to improve it.
Suggestions to improve include;

Moving beyond a narrow technical and engineering focus to address a wider range of
issues and challenges through planning
Focusing on protection and moving away from development
Encouraging integrated water resource plan rather than single issue
5. Can you give/find an example of planning framework (steps) used in your country
Basin Plan for the Athi Basin.

6. Compare the planning frameworks identifying similarities and differences. Which

framework in your opinion is better? Why?
The current framework is better because it has shifted its focus on just the technical and
engineering to effective planning which focus on a wider range of issues and challenges
7. Why is it important for an integrated approach to water resources planning
The integrated approach promotes the coordinated development and management of
water, land and related resources thus maximizing economic and social welfare in an
equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
8. How to differentiate between water resources planning and river basin planning

Water resources planning is a specialized discipline of planning that deals with planning
for and managing natural and man-made systems that are typically contained within
watersheds and which include hydrologic, biological, economic, and political systems
River Basin planning is the process by which decisions are made over the competing uses
and different demands for water resources and associated systems within a basin. River
Basin plans set objectives and the measures for developing, protecting and harnessing the
resources of the basin in order to achieve these objectives and health and safety of the
river itself.