Acknowledgements

Special acknowledgements go to Simon Rukwaro for his input in field coordination and sanitation aspects of the study, Upande Limited for support in digital mapping, Victor Odero of Concern Worldwide for his backstopping support, and the staff of Water and Livelihoods Network for their various inputs.

The Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs) make up more than 40% of the earth’s surface and are home to 35% of its population¹. In Kenya, the ASALs occupy 89% of the country and are home to about 14 million people and approximately 70% of the national livestock herd. The defining feature of the ASALs is their aridity. Annual rainfall in arid areas ranges between 150mm and 550mm per year, and in semi-arid areas between 550mm and 850mm per year. Temperatures in arid areas are high throughout the year, with high rates of evapo-transpiration. The primary policy challenge is how to ensure food and nutrition security in a sustainable manner in environments that are prone to drought, where people’s access to and control over critical livelihood resources such as land is insecure, and where unpredictability is set to increase as climate change takes hold. Turkana, Marsabit and Mandera are the three places with the highest levels of poverty in the country².

Population density ranges from 1 or 2 people per km² in parts of Turkana and Marsabit to 358 people per km² in parts of Kilifi³. Population growth rates in the ASALs are generally higher than in other parts of the country. This is partly the result of in-migration, and partly because fertility rates are falling faster elsewhere in Kenya.

ASALs however, have great potential, with several factors which make the region strategic. Some of these factors are strategic location, making it well positioned to tap surplus capital from the gulf, one of the fastest developing areas in the world. It is also the bridgehead to a regional economy both as a market and access way for materials. Another factor is Tourism, with ASALs home to more than 90% of wild game that sustains the tourist industry, and containing most of the protected areas such as game reserves and national parks. ASALs have huge potential for natural wealth, including the enormous potential in renewable energy, as well as other sources of wealth like gravel, sand, soda ash, gum, resins, gemstones, medicinal plants, and now, oil and gas. Significant amounts of seasonal water run-off are currently lost but could be harnessed for domestic and productive use. ASALs have huge potential for irrigated agriculture and dryland farming, and host about 70% of national livestock of an estimated worth of 70 billion. As populations increase, urbanize and become richer, they demand more meat and other livestock products. Kenya is a meat-deficit country⁴.

This study sought to analyze the water sector set-up in ASALs using the case of Marsabit County, since water will be one of the major drivers to unlock the potential in ASALs. ASALs have huge potential in livestock production and farming that can be unlocked through adequate water supply.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Marsabit County, is the second largest county in Kenya after Turkana covering a total surface area of 69,430 km². The County is classified as 100% Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) zone and has an estimated population of 291, 166 people and over 1.1 million livestock heads of different species as per the 2009 census.

Physical conditions of Marsabit differ widely, with some areas showing high agricultural potential able to sustain crops like Maize and Khat, to the difficult expanses of the Chalbi desert. Marsabit also has some special ecosystems like Mt. Marsabit and Lake Paradise – a crater lake.

A lot of work has been done in the County in regards to investments in water, mainly by Non State Actors who have developed a large number of water points. 71% of water points have been developed or last rehabilitated by Non State Actors. However from this study, given the geographical expansion of the area as well as its potential, these water points, whereas they have eased domestic water needs, may not be the most strategic for livestock development farming. The only major infrastructure of huge magnitude in water is Badasa dam which is ongoing but is still far from completion.

Marsabit County does not have a fully fledged Water Service Provider with a Service Provision Agreement (SPA) although Marsabit town and Moyale among others do have some town supply systems. The Water Service Board which serves this area – Northern Water Services Board, has its headquarters in Garissa and cannot logistically provide lots of support to Marsabit. In Marsabit County, the local presences of nationally associated Institutions in Water were a WARMA Office, and District Water Offices.

During the course of this study it was not possible to determine sewerage coverage. Sanitation coverage is however quite low, with some districts like Chalbi having a coverage of about 12%. Not surprisingly the hygiene conditions of mapped water points were poor, and of the 47 water points tested for bacteriological contamination, 66% were found to have varying levels of contamination. More worryingly, of the 9 sampled tested at Kenya Water Institute (KEWI), 8 of them were found unsuitable for drinking before treatment because of various chemical components. The remaining one, although fairly well balanced chemically, had levels of turbidity which were beyond permissible levels.

Functionality rates were significantly high in the mapped points, over 70% of sampled water points (piped and point) were found to be functional. Most mapped point sources were found to be improved (63%) with all the piped schemes mapped (29) considered as improved. This points at the tremendous work that has been done especially by Non State Actors and communities in making water, at least for domestic use, available in the area. However, in order to unlock the potential of the area, it would be important for Non State Actors and the Government, since they have the muscle, to invest in piped schemes as opposed to point schemes. Viable technologies for pumping like solar and wind power can be explored.

Some of the most serious issues identified in the study include addressing the water quality in the area, which can be done through simple methods like household treatment, sanitation education and improvement in sanitation coverage; to use of more complex methods like reverse osmosis. Quality surveillance and related response has to become routinized through the County Government, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Water and Non State Actors.

This study attempted to map as comprehensively as possible the water points in Marsabit County, and a digital map has been developed and can be accessed online. Marsabit County is one of the few Counties in the Country whose network coverage is extremely poor, making it impossible to transmit all the data collected to the digital system (mapping data was collected using smart phones). This data presented here however, provides a comprehensive enough picture of the water scenario in Marsabit County, and is a sound baseline which can be updated in various ways. This data should be managed in such a way that it can be regularly updated as functionality statuses change, or as new points come up or dry up.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AGMs: Annual General Meetings

ASALs: Arid and Semi Arid Lands

AWSB: Athi Water Services Board

CIFA: Community Initiative Facilitation and Assistance

CLTS: Community Led Total Sanitation

CPC: Community Planning Cycle

CRS: Catholic Relief Services

CWSB: Coast Water Services Board

DPHO: District Public Health Officer

DWOs: District Water Officers

FGDs: Focus Group Discussions

FH: Food for the Hungry

GPS: Geographical Positioning System

HRBA: Human Rights Based Approach

JICA: Japan International Cooperation Agency

KEBS: Kenya Bureau of Standards

KEWI: Kenya Water Institute

M³: Meters Cubed

MGDs: Millennium Development Goals

NEMA: National Environmental Management Authority

NGOs: Non Governmental Organizations

NSAs: Non State Actors

NWCPC: National Water Conservation and Pipeline Company

NWSB: Northern Water Services Board

NWSS: National Water Services Strategy

OP: Office of the President

PACIDA: Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance

PISP: Pastoralist Integrated Support Program

SPA: Service Provision Agreement

TWSB: Tana Water Services Board

UN: United Nations

UPC: Urban Planning Cycle

WAB: Water Appeals Board

WAGs: Water Action Groups

WARMA: Water Resources Management Authority

WASREB: Water Services Regulatory Board

WHO: World Health Organization

WRUAs: Water Resource Users Association

WSBs: Water Service Boards

WSIs: Water Sector Institutions

WSP: Water and Sanitation Program

WSPs: Water Service Providers

WSSD: World Summit on Sustainable Development

WSTF: Water Services Trust Fund

WUAs: Water Users Associations

WWDBs: Water Works Development Boards

WWGs: Water Working Groups

The right to water contains both freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms include the right to maintain access to existing water supplies necessary for the right to water, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from arbitrary disconnections or contamination of water supplies. By contrast, the entitlements include the right to a system of water supply and management that provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the right to water⁵.

The elements of the right to water are that it must be adequate for human dignity, life and health. The adequacy of water should not be interpreted narrowly, by mere reference to volumetric quantities and technologies. Water should be treated as a social and cultural good, and not primarily as an economic good. The manner of the realization of the right to water must also be sustainable, ensuring that the right can be realized for present and future generations⁶.

While the adequacy of water required for the right to water may vary according to different conditions, the following factors apply in all circumstances:

(b) Quality. The water required for each personal or domestic use must be safe, therefore free from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person’s health⁹. Furthermore, water should be of an acceptable colour, odour and taste for each personal or domestic use;

(c) Accessibility. Water and water facilities and services have to be accessible to everyone without discrimination, within the jurisdiction of the State party. Accessibility has four overlapping dimensions:

1. 
   Physical accessibility: water, and adequate water facilities and services, must be within safe physical reach for all sections of the population. Sufficient, safe and acceptable water must be accessible within, or in the immediate vicinity, of each household, educational institution and workplace. All water facilities and services must be of sufficient quality, culturally appropriate and sensitive to gender, life-cycle and privacy requirements. Physical security should not be threatened during access to water facilities and services;
   
2. 
   Economic accessibility: Water, and water facilities and services, must be affordable for all. The direct and indirect costs and charges associated with securing water must be affordable, and must not compromise or threaten the realization of other Covenant rights;
   
3. 
   Non-discrimination: Water and water facilities and services must be accessible to all, including the most vulnerable or marginalized sections of the population, in law and in fact, without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds; and
   
4. 
   Information accessibility: accessibility includes the right to seek, receive and impart information concerning water issues¹⁰.
   

Water sector reforms led by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation since the Water Act of 2002 was passed have progressively addressed the human right to water and sanitation. More explicitly, the National Water Services Strategy (NWSS) 2007 and the Pro-Poor Implementation Plan (PPIP) 2008 embrace the human rights approaches in the provision of water services, calling for citizen participation and empowerment. A special publication of Human right to Water in Kenya was adopted by the Ministry in 2007. In 2010, Kenya signed into law a new constitution enshrining the right to clean and safe water in adequate quantities for each person along with the right to sanitation in The Bill of Rights, Chapter 6. The domestication of this law underlines the commitment to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable water and sanitation for all¹¹.

International human rights treaties and conventions consider access to water and sanitation as a human right. The right to water is defined by the UN as the right to equal and non-discriminatory access to sufficient amount of safe drinking water for personal and domestic uses - drinking, personal sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation and personal and household hygiene - to sustain life and health¹².

Under HRBA, everyone is entitled to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use. HRBA to water and sanitation also demands accountability of governments, the international community and the private sector, requiring information sharing and genuine participation in decision-making by the most vulnerable and marginalized individuals, who have been historically discriminated against or neglected such as residents of informal settlements and the poor rural communities.

A very explicit ambition with the water reforms is to put in place and implement clear structures of accountability as well as openness and transparency and participatory approaches. While this is recognized it is clear that reform implementation will require intensification of capacity development, awareness raising and methodology development/application, particularly at local level and the roles and responsibilities of local actors as well as the individual consumers/citizens. In developing such a mechanism it is critical to combine it with raising awareness of right-holders specifically consumers, of their rights and responsibilities and lobby to the responsible Water Services Providers, the respective Water Services Board and the National Regulator on consumers’ views.

1.3 GOVERNANCE OF WATER RESOURCES IN ASALS

In the ASALs, water is limited both in terms of quality and quantity. Long periods of scarcity of water imply that the communities have evolved mechanisms of managing the little water that is available so as to provide for their needs. The pastoralists apply rules, regulations and penalties as one way to achieve sustainable water management in the midst of scarcity. Access to water is controlled by group membership so that unauthorized use may be met with persuasion, force or legal action. Non-members are only allowed access after making substantial payments or agreements.

According to a WSP publication, traditionally, the clan had structures that provided the basic framework for accessing water and other natural resources. Access was clearly understood to be part of reciprocal agreements, where the digging, use and maintenance of wells were governed by an elaborate system of customary rules. The traditional systems combined a degree of private and communal well digging, use and maintenance. Most clans regulated the ownership of resources in relation to the clan’s ability to claim and maintain effective occupation. Common practice was that large dams and wells were not owned by any group and had no permanent rules that regulated their use. But clans or communities owned and regulated access and use of small dams, pans and shallow wells.

Relatively, and in some cases for good reasons, the water points are few. Nevertheless, the total number of water points varies with seasons, so is the distances covered to access water. Few boreholes exist, mainly funded by the Government and development partners in programmes like Arid Lands Resource Management Programme-OP/WorldBank in the ASALs. The government handed over the boreholes to the community with little orientation on how to manage them, borehole management became a problem because the communities were not used to managing such modern watering points with its associated technologies. Consequently, with interventions, Water User Associations (WUAs) were introduced. The WUAs were made up of livestock owners from the various households and villages. Members of the Association were meant to discuss and generate rules and regulations to govern access and use of available water, especially from the borehole. The Water Users Association and Borehole Committees were to manage, while being guided by clear rules and regulations on the management and use of watering points. However, there is a close association between resource-based conflict and power, in that conflict results when there is scarcity of resources and one individual gains without proper governance, people will use unorthodox means to access water for their livestock. This is likely to cause conflicts and also bring to surface weaknesses like lack of governing and management systems for water.

For marginalized groups, especially among pastoral communities seeking to redress injustices or inequalities in water resource distribution, conflict becomes an inherent feature of their struggle for survival.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

2.1 AREA OF THE STUDY: MARSABIT

Marsabit County is situated in the upper part of the former Eastern province of Kenya. It is the second largest county in Kenya after Turkana covering a total surface area of 69,430 km². It borders Ethiopia to the North and North East, Wajir County to the East, Isiolo County to the South East, Samburu County to the South and South West and Lake Turkana to the West and North West. Marsabit County is divided into seven districts namely Chalbi (Marsabit North), North Horr, Laisamis (Marsabit south), Marsabit central, Sololo and Moyale. The County has an estimated population of 291, 166 people and over 1.1 million livestock heads of different species as per the 2009 census.

The county is classified as 100% Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) zone which experience cycles of drought and famine year after year diminishing the community source of livelihood. The topography of the County is extensive plain lying between 300m and 900m above sea level. The west and north plains are bordered by hills and mountain ranges. Temperatures range from a minimum of 10.1°C to a maximum of 30.2°C, with an annual average of 20.1°C. Rainfall ranges between 200mm and 1,000mm per annum. Most rainfall (rainy season) is seen in March, April and May with dry periods in June, July, August and September.

2.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:

Concern Worldwide, has been implementing various humanitarian interventions in various parts of the Country including in Marsabit. In their experience, they have come to the realization that it is very difficult to engage people in Arid and Semi Arid Areas (ASALs) without addressing their water problems. Concern Worldwide therefore has been looking at developing interventions around water, with a strategy to guide their approach and investments.

However, it was necessary to carry out a water study to get a clear picture of the water situation on the ground, which could lead to needs based and evidenced based advocacy and interventions in water. Countrywide, reliable information on rural water is scanty and no comprehensive analysis of the situation has ever been undertaken, completed and published in regards to this (Impact Report).

2.2.1 Objectives of the study

The following we the objectives of the study:

• 
  To map water points in Marsabit and their functionality with the view of producing a County water map;
  
• 
  To carry out water quality tests in sampled water points to get a picture of suitability for use by human beings;
  
• 
  To analyze the water sector set-up to guide advocacy in Water in ASALs