We have essential partnerships to make this model of water resources management work.
At our core is the partnership with the WRUA (the Water Resources User Group. These groups are the essence of community based natural resources management.
Each WRUA is to be led by a Board chosen locally. Each Board is expected to direct the activities of a management team – a manager, her executive team, and a group of scouts.
Each WRUA is comprised on average of 10 community water projects, individual points of water off-take directed by a Sub-catchment Management Plan, and serving a discrete collection of water users.
Each Sub-catchment management plan is approved and implemented through an MOU with the Water Resources Authority.
Each Plan and MOU is good for a period of 5 years.
Our next important partner is the Water Resources Authority
The WRA is our regulatory body appointed to control and regulate the water resource according to the law, and across county and administrative boundaries.
Five County Goverments (Nyandarua, Nyeri, Isiolo, Meru, and Laikipia) in the upper basin are a major stakeholder group, because they are responsible for working with NEMA on riparian health and water quality, and the Water and Sewerage Corporations who supply piped water to cities, towns, municipalities, and trading centers.
Conservancies, Ranches and Commercial Horticulture Farms are key partners because of their dependency on water resources and the dependability of water of flow and access.
Our Partnership also includes water service providers – businesses and consultant groups focused on water management services and equipment delivery.
We include a member of NGOs, research organizations (CETRAD and MPALA), and financial institutions supporting the water sector.
We include representative of Community Forest Associations, for they are key to the watershed protection.
We are governed by a Board comprised of 17 MKEWP Council Members drawn from these partnerships.
Our Council is served by a Technical Advisory Committee and a small MKEWP secretariat housed at the Laikipia Forum
MKEWP is only the second model of its kind in Kenya, where public, community, and private partnerships work in service to water resources management. The size, hydrology, and demands on this basin and Partnership are significantly different than its sister model (IMARISHA) of Lake Naivasha.
For MKEWP and its partners, it’s a start, and we still have a long way to go!!
Article By
