Dr. Lydiah Wangechi Gachahi
ACADEMIC TEAM LEADER
Contact: lydia.gachahi@tukenya.ac.ke
The Department of Water Resource Planning and Management under the CIWRM in TU-K recognizes Dublin Principles that guide IWRM that; Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment; water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy-makers at all levels; women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water; and water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognised as an economic good. From the foregoing principles, the Department underscores that water is an integral part of the ecosystem, a natural resource and a social and economic good, whose quantity and quality determine the nature of its utilisation. Therefore, a training and research framework that adopts economic efficiency in water use, social equity and environmental and ecological sustainability of the water system is deemed important.
Managing water resources requires the knowledge of the physical science and technology and the multiple institutional, social and political issues confronting the water resource planners and managers. The water resources planning and management is necessary because there are water problems to be solved and /or opportunities to be obtained by changing the management and use of water, and the related land resources. Due to conflicts of interests among water users, there is need to carefully study and research, as well as involve stakeholders in the search for the best compromise plan or management policy at country and/ or county levels. Successful planning and management would further require involvement of all potential stakeholders and sponsors to participate in the water resource planning and management.
The Centre for IWRM will be training water resource planning and management officers at technical, technologist levels and beyond. The Centre for IWRM will offer consultancy and outreach programmes that would enable the players in water resources management at any level to build consensus on the goals and objectives, and how to achieve them in all aspects of a water planning and management programmes. The Centre will collaborate with other departments of TUK and/ or other institutions to carry out research and development of management models aimed at reducing the frequency and/ or severity of the adverse effects of drought, floods, excessive pollution as well as identification of alternative measures that may increase the available water supply and improve the non-consumptive uses of water.