Access to water and sanitation is a precondition to life and a declared human right.
Water is important to sustainable development from health and nutrition, to gender equity and economics. However, climate change affects global water resources in multiple ways.
These effects will add challenges to sustainable management of water resources, which are already under severe pressure in many regions of the world and subject to high climate variability and extreme weather events.
Notably, they affect the availability, quality and quantity of water for basic human needs, threatening the effective enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation for potentially billions of people.
According to world Health Organization, 2.1 billion people globally lack access to safely managed drinking water services, while 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services.
WHO finds that water scarcity already affects four out of 10 people. According to United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 90 per cent of all natural disasters are water-related. Unesco in 2017 found that 80 per cent of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused.
Kenya’s water resources, as in many other regions of the world, are facing many challenges, including climate change. Climate change is one of the dynamic processes impacting water resources. Other processes such as increase in population, land use, economic development have also major influences.
Today’s world is constantly evolving. The precise nature of the future that will actually unfold is inherently uncertain. However, there are a number of global drivers of change and challenges that affect growth and development.
Some of the major drivers are climate change, population growth, food crises, energy crises, financial crises, water scarcity, extreme events, dietary change, urbanisation, deforestation resulting in erosion and exhaustion, collapsing biodiversity, e-commerce, and advances in communication.
The climate impacts of water resources are largest in the marginal rainfall areas of the country. The climate scenarios show that rainfall variability and increased evaporation due to higher temperatures will lead to decrease in the available water.
Vulnerability assessment of water resources in Kenya will be influenced by among other factors population increase leading to increased demand; over-cultivation in slopping areas leading to flash floods and siltation of rivers and reservoirs; deforestation in the water catchment areas and inefficient utilisation of available water, e.g. irrigation methods
All storage options are potentially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In some situations, certain storage options will be rendered completely impracticable, whilst the viability of others may be increased. For example, climate change may have significant impacts on soil moisture.
Hence, longer dry periods may mean soil water conservation measures fail to increase and maintain soil moisture sufficiently to prevent crop failure. Groundwater recharge may be reduced, if rainfall decreases or its temporal distribution changes in such a way that infiltration declines.
Many aquifers near the Coast will be at risk from saltwater intrusion as a result of sea level rise. Ponds and tanks may not fill to capacity or the frequency of filling may be reduced so that they are unable to provide sufficient water for irrigation.
Changes in river flows may mean that reservoir yields and, hence, assurance of water supplies decline. Storage in ponds, tanks and reservoirs may also be reduced more rapidly as a consequence of increased evaporation and greater sediment inflows.
Furthermore, large and small dams as well as ponds and tanks may be at increased risk of eutrophication [characterized by excessive plant and algal growth due to the increased availability of one or more limiting growth factors needed for photosynthesis] and flood damage.
Natural wetlands also face a range of climate change-related threats arising from surface water and groundwater flows and evaporation.
Impacts of dams on downstream river flows and the livelihoods of people depending on those flows may be exacerbated by climate change resulting in the need to release a greater proportion of water stored in reservoirs to maintain riverine environments and ecosystem services. These, and similar factors, will affect both the effectiveness and suitability of different storage options in any specific situation
Climate change and its impact are complex phenomena that require interventions must involve policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and the public and private sectors to develop realistic and effective adaptation and mitigation interventions.
Such strategies need to be tailored to the specific biophysical and socio-economic conditions in each country. The anticipated impacts of climate change are bleak for the water sector in Kenya, with increased frequency of extreme events flooding and severe drought causing the drying up lakes, rivers and ponds.
Serious rational choices need to be considered in developing adaptation strategies to cope with climate change effects on water resources. The way forward requires an approach that combines adaptation measures with sustainable development, economic growth and water resources management.
Kenya must strengthen its effective participation in climate negotiations, and promote integration of climate change and adaptation strategies into the national and sub-regional development policies, programmes and activities of member states.
In addition, Kenya must also reinforce its leadership role in the agendas of climate water resources-related mechanism, and be aware of the need for global mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to prevent long-term climate change impacts on the continent.
There is also need to scale up investments that provide access to affordable and sustainable cleaner energy, water infrastructure, especially for rural communities and to build economic and social resilience.
The country also needs to strengthen citizen’s preparedness and adaptive quick response to climate-induced water disaster and to convert climate and water-related challenges into an opportunity for human development and economic growth.
Secretary, National Environmental Complaints Committee [email protected]
