The Baringo District, Kenya: Methods of Water Provision - Essay Example

?The Baringo District, Kenya: Methods of Water Provision 1 Baringo District Profile 2 Location The Baringo District lies in the northern part of the Rift Valley Province in Kenya, covering an area of 8,655 square kilometres (Baringo District and Vision Strategy (BDVS), 2005). The area has been regarded as ‘one of the most degraded areas in Kenya’ (Bryan, 1994). Figure 1 – Baringo Region (Highlighted in Red) Source: www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/france24_169_large/story/EN-NW-DLS-KENYA-RIFT-VALLEY.jpg 1.3 Climate and Rainfall Rainfall is about 50% reliable and variability is very high. Sub-normal rainfall, with less than 100mm of rain per year can occur every 3-4 years. The region is characterised by one wet season, between April-August, followed by a prolonged dry season. Average rainfall varies from 600mm in lowland areas to 1500mm in the highlands. Temperatures range from 16°-30°c (BDVS, 2005). 1.4 Population The mean density of people is 33.1 per km? (BDVS, 2005). However, this figure varies, and most settlements and populations are found near water resources. 62% of the population don’t have enough food to maintain a healthy living. 1.5 Land use 20,000 Ha of land is used for cultivation of food and cash crops. However, despite the large size of farmed land, the water supply from rivers and lakes is inadequate to meet domestic, livestock and irrigation needs. 2 Water Provision and Scarcity The WWF (World Wide Fund) states that ‘freshwater is essential to human health, agriculture, industry and natural ecosystems, but is now running scarce in many regions of the world. Figure 2 highlights reasons for current water shortages. Figure 2 – Reasons For Water Shortages Adapted from Sub-sea Infrastructure Report (2006) According to Lomborg (2001), the world’s water consumption has almost quadrupled since 1940. Many experts and environmental agencies including the UN Environmental Report GEO 2000 claim that the water shortage constitutes a ‘full scale emergency’, where ‘the world water cycle seems unlikely to be able to cope with increased demands over the coming decades’. 3 The World’s Arid Regions Arid and semi-arid regions cover 30% of the total area (see Figure 3) of the world’s land surface (Balon and Dehnad, 2010) and over 40% of the world’s population live in these areas. Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/y1899e/y1899e50.gif 4 Methods of Water Provision Mismanagement of existing boreholes, irrigation furrows and dams have lead to lengthy periods of disrepair, siltation and dereliction of Baringo’s water supplies. Facilities are also often polluted by human and animal waste. For a district that is water-deficient, most of the rainwater that does fall goes to waste due to a lack of appropriate harvesting technologies, especially at household level according to the Baringo District Vision and Strategy: 2005-2015. I aim to highlight how mitigation strategies and water supply management can improve the effectiveness of water resources and provide long-term sustainable solutions. 4.1 Surface Water Capture and Storage ‘There is a need to improve the efficiency of distribution and use of water’ (Gange, 1965). Kenya’s current National Development Plan emphasises the promotion and utilization of rainwater for sustainable development. Non-profit organisations such as Kenya Rainwater Association (KRA) aim to unite communities and bring individuals, institutions, landowners and organisations together to enhance rainwater harvest and utilization techniques. They are currently investing in methods for reducing losses such as evaporation from large storages, seepage from supply channels and other wastage that occurs within the distribution system. They’ve also built roof water tanks for schools that collects and provides safe drinking water. 4.2 Irrigation Agriculture Use of water from the Chemeron Reservoir is a critical issue in Baringo. Current methods of informal basin and channel irrigation involve little monitoring of water application. Modern irrigation techniques have the potential to break the cycle of food deficiency in the district. Irrigation techniques and water provision solutions are highlighted in Figure 5. Figure 5 – Irrigation Techniques and Water Provision Irrigation Technique How It Brings Water Provision to the Area Problems with Increased Water Provision Flood Irrigation Water applied to surface, distribution by gravity along furrows or slope of fields Central management of available water Inexpensive to operate once set up Uniform distribution is difficult, unless level basins, e.g. rice paddies are used High initial set up cost Relatively high water consumption Sprinkling Irrigation Water is applied as substitute for rainfall, transported and pumped from rivers, lakes or aquifers Helps give soil nutrients and binds it together, preventing aridity or desertification Evaporation and loss by wind are high Uniform application is difficult High investment in equipment and energy required Drip Irrigation Water is applied in the root zone through perforated hoses Water applied uniformly Effective cause watering is limited to root zone, no surface runoff or evaporation Introduces risk of salinisation Sensitive to system failure because little water is stored in the system High investment and technical sills requires from local farmers Source: Adapted from Beaumont () 4.3 Reservoir Construction Reservoirs provide a means to store large amounts of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial use (Thomas, 2000). The Chemeron Dam, completed in 1985 provided fresh water for irrigation purposes for over 260 families on the Njemps Flats, with a design capacity of 4.5 million cubic metres (BPSAAP, 1983). Initially water was provided for local villages. However, within a few years agricultural settlement had increased along the upper bank of the Chemeron Reservoir, leading to unofficial diversions of water and conflicts between landowners. To make matters worse, Chemeron dam is now fully silted due to environmental degradation upstream leading to massive soil erosion. 4.4 Increased Use of Underground Water and Aquifers Ground water supply and quality in districts are directly determined by the geographical sttings of areas (Munga, 2004). Large volumes of underground water can be obtained from these basins by sinking boreholes, which have been used in arid areas for stock supplies for many years. This technique had been used on a large scale in Isreal’s Plio-Pleistocene system since the 1930’s to meet irrigation and domestic demands (Beaumont, 1989). However, the continuous extraction of water from aquifers and underground supplies results in over pumping. Excessive water abstraction around coastal areas can also lead to seawater penetration into aquifers, salinising freshwater supplies. Source:http://www.spotonstandards.co.uk/Images/whatisaborehole/pump.jpg 4.5 Conversion of Saline Water to Fresh Water With 75% of the world’s surface covered in seawater, desalinising could be an effective way of providing fresh water to millions of people in arid regions. Via a pumping pressure, salt water passes through membranes, which removes the salt and other bacterial elements, producing freshwater. A company called ‘Subsea’ have heavily invested in this technology and as of 2007 their ship provides the equipment to desalinate 10,000 m? to 150,000 m? of seawater daily. However, costs remain too high to implement this technique on a large scale, but in the future, conversion of saline water could be progressively adopted to supplement domestic and industrial supplies. The cost of transporting and building pipes to inland areas also needs to be made more cost effective. Figure 7 – Ship Extracting and Desalinating Seawater Source: http://www.mackins.co.uk/3d/subsea-illustration.jpg 4.6 Re-use of Water After Chemical Treatment Excess and wastewater from sewage, agriculture and industry can be purified by chemical treatment. This provides a sustainable method of water provision, especially in arid regions where rainfall is not regular. 4.7 Rainmaking in Catchment Areas Under certain conditions ‘seeding’ suitable clouds with substances such as silver iodide can help form raindrops. However, providing rainfall over large areas over a sustained period of time is still largely untested, and the cost could be too high for developing countries such as Kenya. 5 Recommendation For The Baringo District I believe that sustainable methods such as surface water capture and storage are the most effective way in the Basingo Discrict to maintain water provision. This is because they are cost effective and unite a wide range of sectors such as farm owners, industry, and local communities to work together. However, due to the variability of rainwater in Baringo District, water collection and storage is not always possible, i.e. in periods of prolonged draught. For this reason, more effective methods of irrigation and water monitoring must be adopted if irrigated agricultural production is to be sustainable (Bryan, 1994 ). I therefore propose the need for better irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation, which physical conditions in Baringo are ideal for due to little rainfall. Investment in new technology such as desalinising facilities would also ease water shortage problems in arid regions. However, with little money and help from the government, this long-term solution is currently not a viable option. 6 Conclusion The need for effective long-term water provision methods is of a high priority in the Basingo District. The harshness of the climate, combined with over cultivation means that the land can’t sustain its current population. Effective water resource provision is needed to ease this burden. As discussed in this report, a combination of small (rooftop water collection) and large scale (reservoir creation and maintenance) water provisions are needed to develop this area through sustainable land and water management. References Balon, M and Dehnad, F (2010). Institute for Water and Environmental Protection Technology. Available at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/35212932/WATER-CRISIS-IN-ARID-AND-SEMI-ARID-REGIONS---AN-INTERNATIONAL Beaumont, P. (1989) Drylands: Environmental Management and Development. London. Routledge. Bryan, R.B. (1994) Land Degradation and the Development of Land Use Policies in a Transitional Semi-Arid Region. Advances in GeoEcology, 27 (1), pp.1-30. Gange, M.D. and Dunk, W.P. (1965). Water in Australia. Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney. F.W Cheshire Publishing. Lomborg, B. (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World. New York. Cambridge University Press. Mburu, D.M. (2008). Chairman of the Kenya Rainwater Association. Available at http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Kz0tjj9HADgJ:www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p4/ewn/resource_database/DavidMburu_rainwater_harvesting.pdf+baringo+district+kenya+water+provision&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgr_4bWds-yyA1zL5pk-tHaaDRTmI6Th6YLjUPYA20HZkGxw0C_LtBNb9I56HkqpQ1V1i4MW_UC5hsNcer2kZyH07Nc62dTn8LRUKFnxlBbfK2UVSojEnGBKwEmE6618BcLQQdn&sig=AHIEtbQ_oW5wKOCy381H4Bww01aJaYeYCw Munga, D (2004) Pollution and Vulnerability of Water Supply Aquifers in Mombasa Kenya. Available at http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Kz0tjj9HADgJ:www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p4/ewn/resource_database/DavidMburu_rainwater_harvesting.pdf+baringo+district+kenya+water+provision&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgr_4bWds-yyA1zL5pk-tHaaDRTmI6Th6YLjUPYA20HZkGxw0C_LtBNb9I56HkqpQ1V1i4MW_UC5hsNcer2kZyH07Nc62dTn8LRUKFnxlBbfK2UVSojEnGBKwEmE6618BcLQQdn&sig=AHIEtbQ_oW5wKOCy381H4Bww01aJaYeYCw PrincewaterhouseCoopers (2005) Baringo district Vision and Strategy: 2005-2015. Available at http://www.aridland.go.ke/NRM_Strategy/baringo.pdf Subsea7 (2006) A Flexible Response Solution to Water Shortages. Available at http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Vl7i82Q78wYJ:www.worldwatercouncil.org/fileadmin/wwc/News/Members_News/Subsea_infrastructure.pdf+water+shortages+provision&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjEQZEAlF0_sq1ee8lrEiVB_bhLIQE3jRufJAizZWOnNtCgoz-wyxUilUTKSCrIjafjAjLzNRpVrA4dWzujlxd2CwQAUwA7VlbZ_nTEdnwAVJNlMIw6gPqUqLCSiZMAd6Ae6K7t&sig=AHIEtbQRjeLjbyonZCCwYrkzNJA1vt78wA UN Environmental Report: GEO 2000. In Lomborg, B. (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World. New York. Cambridge University Press. Ch 13. World Wide Fund (WWF) (1999). In Lomborg, B. (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World. New York. Cambridge University Press. Ch 13. Read More