THE ROLE OF WATER RESOURCE USER ASSOCIATIONS IN COMBATING WATER CONFLICT AND HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT: A CASE STUDY IN LAIKIPIA COUNTY, KENYA

Water as a natural resource has often been viewed as free resource leading frequently to unsustainable user practices often to the detriment of the environment. Due to rise in population and poor governance there has been... [ view full abstract ]

Water as a natural resource has often been viewed as free resource leading frequently to unsustainable user practices often to the detriment of the environment. Due to rise in population and poor governance there has been unsustainable use of water resource in Laikipia County leading to conflicts sometimes with incidences of violence between upstream and downstream water users. A study by the Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Group (KENWEB) was carried out to determine the current structure of water governance in Laikipia County and assess the performance of Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs) in resolving water conflict.

A series of questionnaires, interviews and groups discussions carried out over several months revealed a variety of success rates among 26 WRUAs in ensuring compliance, enforcement and governance of water users. In spite of reduced incidences of violence among communities, the consideration for water conservation has predominantly been for human supply (farmers, pastoralists, urban centres), which has left little concern for wildlife assess to water and for sustaining ecosystem functions in important habitats.

There has been continued reduction of water quantity and severe rationing measures during the drought season in most streams, particularly in lower sections of streams. This has been attributed to illegal abstraction of water, leaking pipes, wasteful methods of irrigation, destruction of riparian forest, lack of river line pegging and poor governance. As a result, both wild animals and pastoralist have migrated up to the highlands to look for pasture and water leading to humans being killed by wild animals, destruction of intakes/dams, wild animals invading farmlands, death of livestock (wild and domestic). Our study therefore proposes reclamation of the riparian’s areas by reforestation, controlled water abstraction, river scouting and awareness creation among the resource users in order to solve the above water conflicts. These recommendations are presented in the Laikipia Water Conservation Strategy.