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
Videos
News and blog
Groundwater for climate resilience in the Horn of Africa, February 2023
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
REACH Stories of Change
Protecting groundwater for climate resilience and water security in Turkana, REACH Story of Change, 2023
Publications
Maxwell, C.O., Oonge, Z.I., Odira, P.M.A., Ouma, G.O., Lompi, M., Pacetti, T., Di Bacco, M. & Caporali, E. (2024). Water–Energy Nexus-Based Optimization of the Water Supply Infrastructure in a Dryland Urban Setting. Water 16(21), 3073. doi: 10.3390/w16213073
Korsenevica, M., Ewoton, P. Dyer, E., Ngikadelio, M., & Ng’asike P. O. (2024). Unpacking the progression of climate uncertainty into precarity in the urban context of drylands: The case of floods in Lodwar, Turkana. Climate and Development 1–14. doi: 10.1080/17565529.2024.2434135
Wanguba, B., Siriba, D.N., & Okumu, B.O. (2024). GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis model for utility water demand: The case of Lodwar Municipality, Turkana County, Kenya. Heliyon, 10(17): e36518. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36518
Korzenevica, M., Ongao, P., Ngikadelio, M., Didymus, L., & Dyer, E. (2023). From fast to slow risks: Shifting vulnerabilities of flood-related migration in Lodwar, Kenya. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2024.100584
Tanui, F., Olago, D., Ouma, G., & Kuria, Z. (2023). Hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics of the Lodwar alluvial aquifer system (LAAS) in northwestern Kenya and implications for sustainable groundwater use in dryland urban areas. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 206, 105043. doi: 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2023.105043
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. doi: 10.5287/ora-7ee48ro5k
Ong’ech, D., Olago, D., Dulo, S., Opondo, M., Ouma, G., Mumma, A., Hope, R., Charles, K. (2021). COVID-19 Impacts on Water Burden among Households in Turkana. University of Nairobi Policy brief. doi: 10.5287/ora-komoo8ybw
Tanui, F., Olago, D., Dulo, S., Ouma, G., Kuria, Z. (2021) Petrography and Geochemistry of the Rocks in Lodwar, Kenya and their influences on groundwater quality. Africa Journal of Physical Sciences 5 (15-44).
Munday, C., Dyer, E., Hope, R., Olago, D., and Hirpa, F. (2020). Extreme rainfall and the Turkwel Gorge Dam in Kenya: Understanding risks and management priorities. REACH Policy Brief. doi: 10.5287/ora-y5vroqjej
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. doi: 10.1016/j.gsd.2020.100451
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. doi: 10.37421/mccr.2020.10.339
Korzenevica, M. (2019). Emerging themes on considering water equity. REACH Research Brief, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. doi: 10.5287/ora-6rjq7wpkx
Olago, D. (2018). Constraints and solutions for groundwater development, supply and governance in urban areas in Kenya. Hydrogeology Journal. doi: 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. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrh.2018.08.005
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
