9
WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL
by heavy floodwaters. Water-related conflicts between members of the community and with wildlife were also widespread, particularly during the dry season. WASH was a challenge, too, because of open defecation, bathing in rivers and dumping of pesticide bottles in rivers and streams. Through Watershed, the WRUA officials received training on national and county legislation and their implications for CSO practice in the WASH
the prioritisation of water projects over other “development” projects.
“Educating community groups elevates watershed management in a big way. We now plant trees for income so that our men don’t have to fell trees along riverbanks to burn charcoal. Natural vegetation is better protected because women are growing trees for firewood. As a result, vegetation cover along the rivers and at the springs is improving and there is less erosion,” she says.
Abigael Ntawuasa with community scouts Margaret Ngina and Agnes Saiyoki in awe of the rare Mnyanza tree at Entarara Forest
and WRM sector. They were also trained to apply social accountability tools and processes, public participation guidelines and the importance of CSOs and citizens engaging in government-led planning and budgeting processes. Abigael Sein who is a member of the Entarara WRUA, patron of several youth groups, secretary of the Kajiado WRUA Council and a budget champion, says there has been an improvement in the allocation of financial resources for water and environmental conservation at the County due to lobbying by WRUA officials. The community has been invited to participate in decision-making processes and can now voice where they feel county water points should be located, push for funding for incomplete boreholes and influence
A bonus for the community has been the rehabilitation of Entarara Forest, a catchment for several springs. Previously besieged by excisions and human activity, the springs had dried up, forcing users to sink shallow wells. When it received protection from the County Government of Kajiado following lobbying by WRUA officials, the springs that had dried up sprung back in three years. Due to awareness efforts by WRUA officials, farmers now understand that uncontrolled abstraction of water upstream affects those living downstream and that it is likely to trigger tensions and human-wildlife conflict within the community - Abigael Ntawuasa
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