Strategies of Water Resource users Associations in Promoting Sustainable Water Projects: A Case of Tana Catchment Area, Kenya

Abstract

Sustainability of Water Supply initiatives have been launched around the world with the aim of managing water resources. In Kenya, the enactment of the Water Act 2002 and its subsequent revision in 2016, introduced the involvement of Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs) in water resource management in the Tana Catchment Area. The WRUAs are community based associations for collective management of water resources and resolution of conflicts concerning use within a river basin. Information from the Water Resource Authority show that although WRUAs have been in existence for a long time, equitable water distribution has not been achieved in rural areas and water flow in the river basins shows decreasing trends. Previous studies conducted on water in Tana Catchment Area mainly examined water governance, water utilization and participation of users but did not focus on the effectiveness of strategies used by WRUAs in the promotion of sustainable water projects. This study sought to assess the strategies used by WRUAs in promoting sustainable water projects. Specific objectives of the study examined the relationship between resource mobilization strategies, infrastructure maintenance strategies, conflict management strategies, and catchment management strategies in promoting sustainable water projects. The study also examined the moderating effect of institutional support on the relationship between WRUA strategies and the sustainability of water projects. Five hypotheses in line with the five specific objectives were tested to determine the relation between the variables. The theoretical framework to guide the study were: the theory of common pool resource management and institutional analytical framework. The study used convergent research design and mixed methods approach to conduct the study. A sample of 377 respondents comprising of 5 officers of the Water Resource Authority, 48 WRUA committee members and 324 water users were selected using cluster, purposive and random sampling techniques. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used in data collection. Cronbach‟s Alpha Co-efficient test of reliability from 0.621 to 0.901 was applied for all variables. The data obtained was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics aided with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 19.0). Chi-square test for independence was used to determine the significance of relationship between each WRUA strategy and sustainability of water projects. Binary logistic regression models constructed at a 5 % level of significance was used for testing the moderation effect of institutional support. The study‟s findings revealed that there was a significant association between three WRUA strategies (resource mobilization, infrastructure maintenance and conflict management) and sustainability of water projects. Water catchment management strategy was found to be insignificantly associated with sustainability of water projects. Institution support had a positive significant moderation effect on the relationship between water catchment management and sustainability of water projects. These study concludes that WRUA strategies should be adequately implemented to augment the sustainability of water projects. The study recommended that WRUAs should leverage on mobilizing support from all stakeholders to mobilize resources in order to promote sustainable water projects.