Tools and Training in River Gauge Station Assessment, Regional River Gauge Stations Assessment

The Kenya water sector is under radical reform that is driven by its national policy on water resources management and development and its strategies on water resources management and water services. These policies and strategies are backed up by a new Water Act of 2002 and a draft Zero Investment Plan. The most important new institutions in the Water Sector are the following. Water Services Regulatory Board (WSRB), Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA), Water Services Trust Fund (WSTF), Water Appeal Board (WAB) and the Water Service Boards (WSBs) in the following key areas. The area of responsibility for WRMA is: regulation of water allocation, source protection and conservation, water quality management, pollution control and international waters.

The main thrust of the reforms and the ongoing Sector Wide Approach to Planning is to separate water resources management, water services delivery and sector funding and to focus the role of Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) on policy. Detailed regulations are left to a number of parastatal bodies that report to boards representing different stakeholder interests. The co-operation programme between Kenya, Sweden and Denmark comprises support to 3 components: 1) Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS), 2) Water Resources Management (WRM), 3) Water Sector Reform (WSR).

The focus of this short-term assignment was on capacity building in relation to rehabilitation of the hydrometric network and particularly the assessment of river gauging stations. The assignment was carried out in close co-operation with WRMA Head office and regional staff.