Water Security

Permanent URI for this collection

https://repository.nrf.go.ke/handle/123456789/20

Browse

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Mapping of Groundwater through the Integration of Remote Sensing and Vertical Electrical Sounding in ASALs: A Case Study of Turkana South Sub-County, Kenya
(Scientific Research, 2019-11-28) Nyaberi, Daniel Mogaka; Basweti, Evans; Barongo, Justus Obiko; Ogendi, George Mokua; Kariuki, Patrick Chege
Turkana South Sub-County falls in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya, which are characterized temperatures of 20˚C to 41˚C with an average of 30.5˚C and precipitation in the range of 52 mm to 480 mm per year. The area has limited availability of water resources. The area has a land surface of 18,000 km2 and lies between Longitudes 35˚10'00" and 36˚45'00" East and between Latitudes 1˚0'00" and 3˚0'00" North. The study area faces immense difficulties in trying to meet its water requirements for her rapidly increasing populace, livestock needs and other developmental programmes. Surface water in the area is becoming unobtainable, thus the choice of groundwater exploitation. Indeed with the snowballing demand necessitated by energy, agricultural and livestock production needs in this area, there is an appeal into investigation for groundwater in this greatly remote and extensive area. Thus, the success in the exploration, development and management of groundwater in such a large area calls for such methods that can easily be used to zero down to exploitable targets. Given the expansiveness of the study area, remote sensing (RS) has been used to map lineaments which in turn have been used to deduce faulting affecting the geology of the area. The mapping by RS helped in identifying weathered zones, the fracture systems and fault zones sign of deeper weathered zones which are interpreted to be potential areas since mainly water is stored within fractures and the weathered zones in subterranean and in hard rocks. In the field topographic expressions of faults and fractures which include; joints, fractures, scarps, river channels and slope breaks were mapped and it was observed that there was a comparison of the features to the coincidence raster and aspect interpreted lineaments. The earmarked points were later investigated using vertical electrical sounding (VES) to establish their feasibility for groundwater availability and extraction. The investigated VES points in areas of high lineament density revealed decreasing resistivity with increasing depth of investigation, a confirmation of faulting. The data presented curves, type KH, type KK, and type Q. Further investigation was done in points of low lineament density, considered to be least affected by faulting and deep weathering, which turned out to be having increasing resistivity with increasing depth of investigation, an indication of layered lithology. The zones of low lineament density are represented by a type A curve, a type H curve, type HH. There is a good agreement in the results of remote sensing data and VES data models generated where the high lineaments density points concur with areas of good groundwater potential.
Seasonal rainfall forecasting using the Multi-Model Ensemble Technique over the Greater Horn of Africa
(Academe Research Journals, 2014-07-14) Otieno, George; Opijah, Franklin; Ogalo, Laban; Ongoma, Victor; Sabiiti, Geoffrey
The spatial distribution of rainfall anomalies of the observed models output during extreme events showed that the ensemble model was able to simulate El-Niño (1997) and La-Niña (2000) years. The ensemble models did not show good skill in capturing the magnitude of the extreme events. The skill of the ensemble model was higher than that for the member models in terms of its ability to capture the rainfall peaks during the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena. The analysis for the correlation coefficients showed higher values for the ensemble model output than for the individual models over the Equatorial region with the stations in the northern and southern sectors of the GHA comparatively giving low skill. The ensemble modeling technique significantly improved the skill of forecasting, including the sectors where individual models had low skill. In general, the skill of the models was relatively higher during the onset of the ENSO event and became low towards the decaying phase of the ENSO period. Generally, the study has shown that the ensemble seasonal forecasting significantly adds skill to the forecasts especially for October-December (OND) rainy seasons. From the study, ensemble seasonal forecasting significantly adds skill to the forecasts over the region. Blending dynamical ensemble forecasts with statistical forecast currently being produced during Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs) would add value to seasonal forecasts. This significantly reduces the impacts and damages associated with climate extremes over the region.
Sociocultural Determinants to Adoption of Safe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Practices in Nyakach, Kisumu County, Kenya: A Descriptive Qualitative Study
(Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2016-12-06) Wasonga, Job; Okowa, Mark; Kioli, Felix
Provision of safe water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene has been lauded as one way of preventing diarrheal infections and improving health especially in developing countries. However, lack of safe water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene practices in most parts of rural Kenya have posed a challenge that exposes the populace to diarrhea cases and possible deaths. In this regard, many nongovernmental organizations and governmental agencies have tried to provide water, sanitation, and hygiene services with poor results. This study was conducted using qualitative research methods in Central Nyakach in Kisumu County, Kenya. The methods were focus group discussions (FGD), key informant interviews (KII), and observation of homesteads. The data were then analyzed thematically. Findings revealed that water issues are gendered and its use is socially and culturally categorized. Water storage is affected by traditions such as use of a clay pot, while sanitation and hygiene issues are ritualized and bound by taboos. Latrines are majorly constructed by men and sharing the same with in-laws and older children is prohibited. Children faeces are thrown out in the open fields as a means of disposal and hand washing with soap is nonexistent, since it is believed that doing so would make a person lose the ability to rear livestock. The implications of these findings are that some of these sociocultural practices have a profound effect on health of the population. This affects health care delivery through high incidence rates of disease, encourages “unhealthy” environments through open defecation and pollution, and negates the government’s commitment to national and international policies on universal health care provision.
The study of the effects of Mau Catchment Degradation on the Flow of the Mara River, Kenya
(Journal of Environment and Earth Science, 2017-03-07) Oruma, Samuel Kipampi
The Mara River is the lifeline of the Trans boundary Mara basin across Kenya and Tanzania.The basin is considered one of the more serene sub-catchments of the Lake Victoria Basinand ultimately the Nile Basin. The basin traverses the famous Maasai Mara and SerengetiNational Parks in Kenya and Tanzania respectively. The basin also contains forests, largescalefarms, smallholder farms, pastoral grazing lands, as well as hunter gatherers and fishers.There is growing concern however, regarding land degradation in the basin, particularlydeforestation in the headwaters, that is affecting the natural resource base and the river flows.Scientific studies are required to advise on policy issues, and to plan appropriate mitigationmeasures. This study utilizes remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS)tools, and hydrological and ground-truth studies to determine the magnitude of the landuse/cover changes in the Mara River Basin, and the effects of these changes on the riverflows over the last 30 years. The results of the studies indicate that land-use/cover changeshave occurred in the basin. In 1973, for example, rangelands (savannah, grasslands andshrublands) covered 10,989 km2 (79%) of the total basin area. The rangelands have now beenreduced to 7,245 km2 (52%) by 2000. The forest areas have been reduced by 32% over thesame period. These changes have been attributed to the encroachment of agriculture, whichhas more than doubled (203%) its land area over the same period. To investigate the effectsof land cover change on river flow, stream flow was generated from derived land coverthematic maps of 1973 and 2000 using the same rainfall and evaporation data of 1983 to 1992period. The other model input datasets for topography and soils were held constantduring the two runs. The differences in the generated hydrographs could only be associated tochanges in land cover, which was the only variable. The percentage difference between themean annual stream flows of the two hydrographs was negligible at 0.01%. This studytherefore concludes that land cover changes in the basin have changed the day to dayflow characteristics of the river but the annual flow volumes remain unaffected. There isneed for urgent action to stem the land degradation of the Mara River Basin, includingplanning and implementing appropriate mitigation measures.
Water scarcity influenced water use coping mechanisms in selected sites of Makueni County, Kenya
(Archives of Current Research International, 2017-03-04) Nthenge, Anthony K.; Kimiti, Jacinta M.
Water constitutes a vital element of household food security for humans and livestock. Therefore,the general objective of this study was to establish the ease of water access, water scarcity andcoping strategies used by rural communities in selected study sites of Makueni (Kilili sub-locationin Makueni sub-county and Kyanguli sub-location in Kibwezi East sub-county), all located inMakueni County. The study involved a total of 70 households which were selected using clusterand simple random approach to gather quantitative data using household surveys. The data werecollected using a structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews with key informants. Thecollected data was coded and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).Results from the analysed data were presented using tables. Results obtained revealed thatmajority of the households obtained water from rivers (78%), followed by shallow wells (31%),boreholes (28%), sand dams (24%) and springs (11%). However, most respondents at Kyanguliobtained water from rivers (94%) compared to Kilili (62%). Further, at Kilili sub-location, majority of the households got water within less than 1 km (46%) while at Kyanguli most respondents gotwater within 1-3 km (48%). Five major water access problems were documented in the study sitesincluded increasing distance to water sources, high cost of water, dirty water, water scarcity andconflict with neighboring communities. In overall water scarcity was the commonest problem inboth study sites (77%), followed by dirty water (62%), increasing distance to water sources (45%),high cost of water (44%) and conflict with neighboring communities (43%). Water use copingmechanisms identified in the study included use of water harvesting structures, soil conservationtechniques, diversification of crop types and varieties, irrigation, water reuse, reducing number oflivestock and reduced water use. In overall the commonly used water copying mechanismsincluded soil conservation (85%), water reuse (71%), reduced livestock (64%), reduced water use(55%) and crop diversification (54%). We concluded that water scarcity, dirty water, increasingdistance to water sources, high cost of water and conflict with neighboring communities were themain challenges which led the households to develop water coping mechanisms in the selectedsites of Makueni County. We recommend the results of this study to be used by policy makers inwater development projects in Makueni to improve water availability and access in the selectedstudy sites.

Browse

Browsing Water Security by Subject "South Eastern Kenya University"

Results Per Page

Sort Options