Situational Analysis of Groundwater Resources in Kenyan Drylands, Case study of Turkana County

Yıl 2024, , 1 - 10, 28.09.2024

Mary Makokha , Joy Obando Raphael Kweyu Shilpa Asokan

https://doi.org/10.30897/ijegeo.1398321

Öz

Recent climate changes have increased the incidences of severe droughts and floods, which have increased the vulnerability of pastoralists in the Kenyan drylands. Thus, there is a need to carry out a situational analysis of groundwater as it is the main source of water which provides baseline information useful for planning Analysis of results indicates that Turkana County is dominated by shallow wells and boreholes with the shallowest wells located along the seasonal rivers and Lake Turkana. The borehole depth was found to range between 20 to 200m. Most of the boreholes located near Lake Turkana were shallower compared to those far away from the lake with a depth ranging between 0 to 52m. Most of the boreholes had a low yield that ranged between 1.2 to 4.6m3/hr be attributed to the basement rocks which are prevalent in the county and are classified as poor aquifers. The water points were mainly dense in urban areas, which was mainly the central region where the water demand was high and this was attributed to the high population. The groundwater levels occurred mostly at 13m indicating that Turkana County has mostly shallow aquifers that predominantly occurred along the river valleys and at the edge of the volcanic deposits. The groundwater quality is mainly saline as most of the boreholes had high TDS, EC and chloride levels. The presence of high fluoride levels indicates the presence of high volcanic rocks that have high fluoride ions that are largely prevalent in the study region. The Sulphate, Nitrite and Nitrate Levels in all the water samples analyzed were below the EU, WHO and KEBs standards indicating the low anthropogenic activities carried out in the drylands as most farmers are pastoralists. The most prevalent cation was sodium in some of the boreholes indicating why the groundwater was saline.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Groundwater, water quality, water yield, geology, boreholes

Etik Beyan

We followed the ethical requirements as set by Kenyatta University

Destekleyen Kurum

Kenyatta University

Proje Numarası

No number

Teşekkür

Nordic Institute of Africa, Uppsala Sweden

Kaynakça

• Asokan, S. M., Obando, J., Kwena, B. F., Luwesi, C. N. (2020). Climate change adaptation through sustainable water resources management in Kenya: Challenges and opportunities. African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, 1-11.
• Feitelson, E., Tubi, A. (2017). A main driver or an intermediate variable? Climate change, water and security in the Middle East. Global Environmental Change, 39-48. doi:10.1016/J.GLOENVCHA.2017.03.00
• JICA. (2013). The Project on the Development of the National Water Master Plan 2030. The Republic of Kenya: Nippon Koei Co Ltd.
• Kang, H., Kim, K. S., Park, Y. S., Kim, N., Ok, Y. S., Kim, J., . . . Lim, K. J. (2009). Development and Application of SATEEC L Module for Slope Length Adjustment Based on Topography Change. Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture, 28(2), 113-124.
• KNBS/SID. (2014). ‘Exploring Kenya’s Inequality: Pulling Apart or Pooling Together? Nairobi: KNBS. Kumar, A., Riyazuddin, P. (2012). Seasonal variation of redox species and redox potentials in shallow groundwater: a comparison of measured and calculated redox potentials. . Journal of Hydrology, 444, 187-198.
• Lapworth, D., Nkhuwa, D., Okotto-Okotto, J., Pedley, S., Stuart, M., Tijani, M., Wright, J. (2017). Urban groundwater quality in sub-Saharan Africa: current status and implications for water security and public health. Hydrogeology Journal, 25(4), 1093.
• MacDonald, A. M., Lark, R. M., Taylor, R. G., Abiye, T., Fallas, H. C., Favreau, G., . . . West, C. (2021). Mapping Groundwater Recharge in Africa from Ground Observations and Implications for Water Security. Environmental Research Letter, 16(3). doi:org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd661
• Maxwell, O. C., Olago, O. D., Odira, M. P. (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, 114.
• Naderi, M. (2020). Assessment of Water Security under Climate Change for the large Watershed of Dorudzan Dam in Southern Iran. Hydrogeology Journal, 28, 1553–1574. doi:10.1007/s10040-020-02159-1
• Ndegwa, G. M., Kiiru, I. (2010). Investigations on soil and water quality as affected by irrigation in turkana district, Kenya. . Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology, 12(1), 11-31.
• Oduor, A. R., Mutune, J., Malesu, M., Cherogony, K., Karuma, A., Cherogony, M., Onyango, D. (2012). Food Security Master Plan for Turkana County. Lodwar: Diocese of Lodwar.
• Rusiniak, P., Kmiecik, E., Wątor, K., Duda, R., Bugno, R. (2021). Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the urban groundwater–preliminary monitoring (case study: Kraków, Southern Poland. Urban Water Journal, 18(5), 364-374.
• Swarzenski, W. V., Mundorff, M. J. (1977). Geohydrology of North eastern province, Kenya (No. 1757-N). US Govt. Print. Off.,.
• Tanui, F., Olago, D., Dulo, S., Ouma, G., 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 Sustainable Development, 11, 100451.
• The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV). (2014). The SNV Field report. The Hague: SNV.
• Ülker, D., Ergüven, O., Gazioğlu, C. (2018). Socio-economic impacts in a Changing Climate: Case Study Syria. International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics, 5(1), 84-93. doi.org/10.30897/ ijegeo.406273