Annex 2: Report of conclusion of IPSI Collaborative Activity
The following form is for use in reporting the conclusion of an IPSI Collaborative Activity. Please fill out this form
when the Collaborative Activity is finished and submit to the IPSI Secretariat (isi@unu.edu).
Reporting Date:

20th April 2016

Project title:

Development of Laikipia Water Conservation Strategy
Actual term (e.g. 1 January 2014 – 31 December 2015):
January 2013 to December 2014
Please provide a description of the activities and its outputs and/or outcomes below:

The initial proposed project was titled: “Development of Integrated Water Resource Strategy
and monitoring of wetlands and river catchments of Laikipia County, Kenya.” Various outputs wereexpected out of this collaboration including:

Laikipia Water Conservation Strategy for the Ewaso Ng’iro North;
A monitoring guide for Ecosytem Health of Streams and Wetlands of Laikipia; andDocumentary on Water Governance and the role of WRUAs in the Ewaso Ng’iro North.

However, the project ended with only one output: The Strategy
The Laikipia Water Conservation Strategy was developed in line with the objectives of theWater Program of the Laikipia Wildlife Forum. The strategy was coordinated and written by the Kenya
Wetlands Biodiversity Research Group (KENWEB), and Laikipia wildlife Forum (LWF) water
program. It involved consultations with 26 Water Resource Users Associations, the Water Resource
Management Authority in Kenya and the Laikipia County Government.

Stages of the Water Conservation Strategy development
PDF AVAILABLE ON THE KENWEB WEBSITE: www.kenweb.or.ke---Initiation Stakeholders meeting held on the 23rd to 24th May 2013 at Nanyuki Sportsman Arms
where the Chairpersons of 25 WRUAs attended in order to provide inputs on elements which thestrategy should address including its vision, mission and key issues including water allocation, water
governance and environmental sustainability.
Field visits to 26 WRUAs for further consultative discussions to follow up on the main themes
discussed at the Stakeholders meetings. Discussions focused on challenges and strengths of theWRUAs in Water allocation particularly in regards to their capacity to ensure enforcement ofregulations, compliance by members and governance of the group. The WRUAs also discussed
priority areas that partnerships would be required to support efficiency in water allocation andgovernance.
Consultations with WRMA: The purpose of this step was first to discuss with WRMA the findings1

--from the field visits in order to find out what support WRUAs have received so far in order toovercome challenges in enforcement, compliance and governance. Secondly, the team was able todiscuss the sub-catchment plans developed for the various WRUAs and gather information on
characteristics of the sub-catchments and the water resources in use and managed by the WRUAs;
challenges, causes and remedies in water allocation and governance.
Consultations with the Laikipia County Government took place between August and December
2013 whereby LWF Water Program Officer held discussions with county Governor and Deputy
Governor regarding water policies, the role of county in development of the water sector andcontributed to the refining of the draft Water and Sanitation Services Bill, 2013 through stakeholder
consultative meetings.
Stakeholder Validation: The draft strategy was circulated to stakeholders (including WRUAs,County representatives, WRMA, conservation and government agencies and others) in January 2014
for comments. At a stakeholder’s validation workshop held on 13th and 14th February 2014, thestrategy was presented to all stakeholders to allow further input and validation of contents.

Structure of the Water Conservation Strategy
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 2 – BACKGROUND
CHAPTER 3 – STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT PROCESSCHAPTER 4 – CHARACTERIZATION OF SUB-CATCHMENTS AND WRUAs: Thissection summarizes key features and water resources of the sub-catchments and the WRUAs withinthem. The main source of this information is the sub-catchment plans. The section also highlights somechallenges faced by WRUAs in water allocation, and provides remedies suggested during thedevelopment or formalization of the WRUAs or during the development of the sub-catchment plans.
CHAPTER 5 – COMPLIANCE, ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNANCE: This section
presents a recent characterization of the present status of challenges in water allocation based on
findings from field visits with WRUAs and other stakeholders. It underscores challenges in enforcementof by-laws, compliance by members and governance of the WRUA.
CHAPTER 6 – VISION, MISSION, STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND ACTION: Thissection outline the overall strategic objectives of the Water Conservation Strategy including specificobjectives within three strategic areas: Water use and allocation; environmental sustainability and water
management and governance. The actions to be taken in order to address these objectives are also
outlined for each strategic area.
CHAPTER 7 – REPORTING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION: This section deals
with formats for reporting, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Strategy. The
indicators for monitoring and evaluation of progress in implementation and effectiveness of actions are2

based on the priority areas to be addressed between 2014 and 2018. These will provide for review of thestrategy and for lessons learnt for replication or improvement.

Remarks:
Second phase of project did not continue. The partnership with Laikipia Wildlife Forum was no longer viable due
to a change in directorship and different project focus.
Please attach additional pages as necessary.

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