Improving water security for the poor
Small towns in fragile environments
The challenge
Lodwar is a small town in Turkana County, Kenya, with high poverty rates, a low level of piped water services, rapid population growth, and increasing climate variability with uncertain impacts on water resources. Similar problems are faced by many Kenyan and African small towns including Wukro in Ethiopia. In arid and semi-arid lands with growing populations, understanding the current and future status of available water resources is vital for development.
The observatory
We are studying hydro-climatic variability in the Turkwel River system and how that interacts with bulk water demand and allocation regimes (hydro-electric, industry, agriculture) which determine water flowing to Lodwar town and Lake Turkana. Groundwater resources are also influenced by rainfall and river flows in the Napu aquifer near Lodwar which is becoming an increasingly important resource in times of drought. Better knowledge of rainfall variability is needed to ensure the growing demands of the Turkwel River are met sustainably and benefit the poor.
This observatory also aims to reduce inequalities in drinking water services and ensure that investments reach the poor. Our research will help Lodwar respond to converging issues of water variability, demographic growth, poor infrastructure and financial sustainability to ensure inclusive water services for all.
Research questions
- Which metrics for rainfall variability can be formulated from future projections, and which of these metrics will be most useful to government, investors and rural water users?
- How do rainfall and run-off regimes affect recharge processes for groundwater supplies for Lodwar town?
- What are the processes and practices which reduce inequalities in drinking water services for the poor in Lodwar town?
- How do flashfloods affect men’s and women’s lives, livelihoods and water security?
Research team
IWA: Martha Jepkirui
UNICEF: Mahboob Ahmed Bajwa
University of Nairobi: Charles Odira Maxwell, Professor Albert Mumma, Dr Daniel Olago, Dr Maggie Opondo, Dr Gilbert Ouma, Florence Jerotich Tanui
University of Oxford: Dr Simon Dadson, Dr Ellen Dyer, Dr Rob Hope, Dr Sonia Ferdous Hoque, Dr Marina Korzenevica, Dr Callum Munday, Michael Rouse CBE, Professor Richard Washington
News and blog
Groundwater is a vital invisible resource – to use it, we need to better understand it and make it visible, December 2019
Coping with water scarcity in the Turkwel river basin, Kenya, October 2018
Living and thriving under the glare of the Turkana sun, February 2018
Governing water and knowledge in Turkana, Kenya, October 2017
Publications
Korzenevica, M., Grasham, C., Omia, D.O., Bukachi, S. (2022) Addressing socio-economic inequalities in Lodwar and broader Turkana. REACH Workshop Report, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Tanui, F., Olago, D., Dulo, S., Ouma, G., and Kuria, Z. (2020). Hydrogeochemistry of a strategic alluvial aquifer system in a semi-arid setting and its implications for potable urban water supply: The Lodwar Alluvial Aquifer System (LAAS). Groundwater for development, 11.
Maxwell, C.O., Dulo, S., Olago, D.O., Odira, P.M.A. (2020). Water Availability Analysis of Multiple Source Groundwater Supply Systems in Water Stressed Urban Centers: Case of Lodwar municipality, Kenya. Journal of Civil & Environmental Engineering, 10:2.
Korzenevica, M. (2019). Emerging themes on considering water equity. REACH Research Brief, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Olago, D. (2018). Constraints and solutions for groundwater development, supply and governance in urban areas in Kenya. Hydrogeology Journal. doi.org/10.1007/s10040-018-1895-y
Hirpa, F. A., Dyer, E., Hope, R., Olago, D. O., Dadson, S.J. (2018). Finding sustainable water futures in data-sparse regions under climate change: Insights from the Turkwel River basin, Kenya. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 19:124-135.
Haines, S., Imana, C. A., Opondo, M., Ouma, G. and Rayner, S. (2017) Weather and climate knowledge for water security: Institutional roles and relationships in Turkana. REACH Working Paper 4, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
REACH (2015) Country Diagnostic Report, Kenya. REACH Working Paper 3, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
