Sub-National / -Basin & Local WWF Case Study

Lake Naivasha, an internationally renowned Ramsar Site, has a complex hydrology rich in biodiversity in addition to being home to the largest hippo population density in Kenya. The Lake Naivasha area contributes significantly to Kenya’s socio-economic development and is world famous for its cut-flower production that accounts for 2.1% of the national economy and 10% of the foreign exchange earnings [Pegram, 2011]. Water remains the single most important resource that the Basin’s economy depends on. The drought in 2009 set alarm bells among Naivasha Basin’s stakeholders; it became clear that all have a shared responsibility to conserve the ecosystem. Additionally, it was established that the long-term sustainability of the lake and the agriculture- and tourism-based industries it supports were all at serious risk if the ecosystem were to collapse.

 

Kenya’s progressive water resource legislative framework, the “Water Act 2002”, recognized that water management needed to be locally driven. Accordingly, the Act provides for every subcatchment area to have a range of Water Resources User Associations (WRUAs) that collaborate with Kenya’s Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA) in managing water resources in a harmonized and co-operative manner. WWF has worked with the Lake Naivasha Growers Group (LNGG), a horticultural farmer association, the WRMA, and the Water Services Trust Fund to support the formation of WRUAs.

 

A Water Resources Users Association is an association of water users, riparian land owners, and other stakeholders who have formally and voluntarily come together and are registered by law for the purposes of cooperatively sharing, managing, and conserving a common water resource. The ongoing interaction between WRMA and the WRUA (the primary beneficiaries of the water resource) seeks to enhance the participatory management of water resources and conflict resolution.

 

WRUA membership is comprised of all water users in an area that includes commercial and small-scale farmers, pastoralists, fishermen, industrial users, landowners, and domestic users. A typical WRUA in Kenya manages the water resources in an area of 200km² (or about a 10-20km stretch of river). There is a legal and formal registration processes that needs to be completed before a WRUA can work with the WRMA.

 

There are currently 12 WRUAs in the Naivasha catchment with varying degrees of capacity. The Lake Naivasha Water Resources User Associations are probably some of the most developed WRUAs in Kenya. Along with various partners, the Naivasha WRUAs have undertaken the following activities towards contributing to the sustainable management of water within the basin:

 

This pilot project jointly facilitated by CARE and WWF linked commercial water users around the lake with 565 smallholder farmers via the WRUAs. The LANAWRUA represented by the LNGG provided the incentives to Wanjohi and Upper Turasha WRUAs for setting aside land for conservation through rehabilitating and protecting riparian zones; planting high value agro-forestry trees, fruit trees, and fodder crops; and reducing fertilizer use. The upper catchment WRUAs identified 565 farmers to undertake these activities who were then each rewarded with $17 vouchers per year (for 2 years), which were redeemed through acquiring agricultural inputs. Although this project is still in its pilot phase, it is an example of how different water users can manage water resources from the top of the catchment to the end-user through effective coordination.

 

The abstraction survey’s objectives were to capture all water abstraction points, capture the actual abstraction amount, understand the level of permit coverage and compliance (permit, meters, paying for water-use), cluster surveyed abstractors into specific WRUAs, obtain information on water balance to improve the Lake Naivasha Water Allocation Plan, determine the community’s level of understanding of the water legislative framework, and develop a GIS database. The abstraction survey revealed that 185,000 m³ is from the lake and the aquifer connected to it, while 100,000m³ is abstracted from rivers, dams, and groundwater in the upper catchment. A key lesson learned is that a water abstraction survey is mandatory if valid information for water resource management is to be obtained. It is not a simple exercise, and requires committed and experienced staff, resources (funds & equipment), and proper planning. Another big lesson learned was that only having water rules in place is not enough – sensitizing and having strategies on how to implement these rules on the ground-level are essential.

 

In collaboration with Lake Naivasha WRUAs, WWF decided to walk down a path of uncertainty – to introduce new regulations relevant to water resource management in the Lake Naivasha Basin. Motivated by passion and perseverance, the partnership, decided to embark on a tireless and seemingly endless journey – to gazette Lake Naivasha Basin as a protected area and a ground water conservation area and to impose certain requirements, regulations, and prohibitions. These special measures were introduced through a legal notice in the Kenya Gazette. In Kenya, gazettement is primarily a process whereby the government officially brings new laws into force. The new laws pertain to:

 

A Water Allocation Plan (WAP) is a legally binding document whose formulation was led by the Water Resource Management Authority in consultation with all stakeholders. The Naivasha WAP details methodologies, concepts, and a water balance analysis to address the water scarcity, balance, and inherent possible conflicts between various water users. Similarly, the WAP provides clear guidelines on how to bring water users’ abstractions in compliance with the amounts allocated in their permits and abstraction conditions that all parties are required to adhere to. The development of the plan was supported by LNGG, with WWF and WRMA finalizing the plan, making it the first of its kind in Kenya.

 

Key Conclusion:

Unfortunately commitment to change current water use practices needs a drastic catalyst such as the drought experienced in Kenya. Additional necessary conditions are a favorable political and legal environment for local governance. Ultimately such processes are not just dialogdriven, but rights and responsibilities must also be clearly defined in jointly agreed formally binding documents and plans like Kenya’s Lake Naivasha Water Allocation Plan.