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WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL
Citing Ngusishi River WRUA in Timau as an example of what other water user associations can achieve if well resourced, Kirimi says the association has river scouts and offices. Funded by commercial entities and the local community, the WRUA can monitor abstraction, pollution and conduct riparian protection activities. “MKEWP is currently lobbying county governments to adopt this management model dubbed WRUA Institutional Development Project where WRUAs are tied to performance contracts and funded by members and WRA. This initiative is supported by Watershed and other stakeholders,” MKEWP Water Officer James Mwangi says.
MKEWP is also assisting WRUAs to lobby county governments so that SCMPs are incorporated in County Integrated Development Plans and budgets. This would bridge the policy and legal gaps that have subjected WRUAs to minimal support and funding from county governments. While the current focus is on conservation and equitable sharing of the water resource, change of land use from pastoralism to farming is exposing rivers to pollution and erosion. Further, many urban centres lack sewerage facilities, while those that do have inadequate capacity to remove nitrates and phosphates from sewerage before discharging treated water into rivers. This compromises water quality and WASH.
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