Adapting To Climate Change: Evaluating the Implementation of Water Resource Management Strategies in Hotels within Lake Naivasha Environs

Abstract

Sustainability is complicated by the threat of climate change which presents tourism industry with considerable negative effects, creating an urgent need to manage and use such resources responsibly. Water Resource Management (WRM) has become critical in the tourism industry. Consequently, hotels have a unique responsibility in lessening the real and potential negative impacts on the water and promote sustainable water management and use. This study evaluated adoption of WRM strategies in hotels to attain water sustainability, the current structural and non-structural WRM strategies adopted by selected hotels in the environs of Lake Naivasha, perceived effectiveness of both the structural and non-structural WRM strategies adopted to enhance water sustainability, and structural and non-structural watcensus of 30 Class (A) registered hotels was conducted, and purposive sampling was used to select respondents. Convenience sampling was used to select managers for interviews. Primary data collection used questionnaires and interviews, while secondary data was synthesized from journals, text books, theses and other works and analysed using the SPSS program. Hotels had embraced WRM strategies through development of alternative water resources, water saving technologies, manuals and treatment of recycled water. Structural WRM strategies were perceived to ber management strategies in terms of sustainability in hotels within environs of Lake Naivasha. A e more effective as they impacted more on reducing operating costs, promoted environmental conservation and were more preferred than the non-structural strategies despite being more expensive to implement. Water sustainability is achievable through a combination of WRM strategies. Better water management policies should be formulated and complemented with technological utilization, stiffer penalties on pollution, community involvement, inclusion of donor funding and provision of incentives.