By George Morara
The government of Kenya and
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has called on all organizations
involved in the conservation of the Tana Basin to work together to avert a
livelihood crisis facing more than 7 million people depending on the ecosystem.
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| A section of participants at the workshop.Picture by | G.Morara |
Country`s Water Minister Mrs.
Charity Ngilu made the rallying call in Nyeri, the capital of Central Province
late this week during a two-day Tana Catchment Partners’ Consultative meeting.
She expressed concern that many similar activities were ongoing in the basin
whose 80 per cent water comes to Nairobi, the Capital City regardless of the impending
conservation crisis.
In a statement delivered by a
senior director in the Ministry’s water services, Fred Mwango, the minister
said all stakeholders working in the basin should avoid duplication of
activities in order to uniformly address the issue.
“I wish to encourage the
various research entities to continue their good work in the generation of
knowledge and to focus future research on current and foreseeable challenges on
water resources, so that their results can get practical application in solving
problems in the real world,” said the minister.
The minister said that it is
important that all stakeholders working to conserve the Tana ecosystem to
profile their activities under the national body charged with water management;
the Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) for easier coordination and
communication of the existing projects.
“As envisaged in the National
Water Master Plan 2030 (NWMP 2030), the national resolve to empower and
strengthen WRMA to undertake its mandate is very clear. The journey towards
prosperity for this Basin starts at this juncture and has to involve all of you
and your support,” said Ngilu.
The minister’s sentiments
were echoed by UNEP’s Head of Fresh Water and Marine Ecosystems Branch,
Jacqueline Alder. She said there has not been a constituted forum to evaluate
the coherence of various projects in the Tana Basin.
“There is therefore a need to
better coordinate the various partners and their activities to ensure the
implementation of the Catchment area Management Strategy (CMS) is achieved in harmony.
She said alongside this
coordination; there is need also to have an appropriate communication mechanism
for the partners to enhance learning. “This will also inform strategic delivery
and alignment of activities on real lessons,” she added.
During discussions, a number
of organizations including government agencies unanimously agreed there is an
urgent need to work closely owing to the fact that the Tana River was an
important water resource in the East African region.
“It is true that these kind
of synergies are required; first, by involving communities in a sustainable
resource management method,” said a representative from the Thika Water
Resource Users Association (WRUA), Daniel Mbugua.
However, The National
Conservancy (TNC) head, Colin Apse, for effective coordination to ensure
continuity of water conservation activities, there is also need for users of
the commodity to have fresh initiatives such as the Water Endowment Fund to
guide such activities.
The Tana is arguably the
longest and biggest river in Kenya flowing more than 1, 000km and contributes
50 per cent of the country’s water discharge into the Indian Ocean, according
to UNEP studies. It originates from the Abedares and Mount Kenya catchment
areas.
The Tana Basin covers an area
of 126, 026sq km which is said to equal 20 per cent of the country’s land area
and is the second largest Basin in Kenya after the Ewaso Ngi’ro.
According to TNC’s water
engineer, Fred Kihara, demand for water is high due to increasing population
especially in the upper parts of the Basin, where the rain-fed agriculture is
practiced on 21 per cent of the total land area in the Basin.
“The various land use
practices within the Basin have led to increasing demand for water resources
and thus to an increase in conflicts in water utilization due to competing
interests. This therefore calls for ready funds to run these conservation
projects,” he added.
Recently there has been a
continued degradation of the Basin from poor farming practices; deforestation
leading to soil erosion.
A baseline study by WRMA also
shows that, the giant Masinga Dam in the central region of the Basin, had a
reservoir sedimentation rate of 5.45 Mcm per year and had lost about 10.1 per
cent of its capacity over the last 29 years.
A UNEP assessment has also
found out that over 70 partners, local and international, are working in the
Basin supporting the TCA to implement its CMS. However, according to Alder,
there was little coordination among partners.
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