Impact of Water Governance Regimes on Forage Characteristics and Soil Properties in Kajiado County, Kenya

Abstract

Water governance regimes have a profound effect on vegetation and soil attributes. This is because they directly impact on grazing patterns. Kenyan peri-urban drylands are grappling with climate change and variability, population spill-over from neighboring towns and cities and land degradation that put strain on water resources. Water demand therefore outstrips supply. Sustainable water governance regimes are therefore a prerequisite for climate change resilience, building of adaptive capacities and reduction of climate induced vulnerabilities. This study sought to evaluate the impact of various water regimes on vegetation and soil attributes. Organizational and operational characteristics of diverse water governance regimes were studied and measured against respective vegetation and soil physio-chemical attributes. Soil and vegetation data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA on GenStat 15th edition. The study revealed a shifting trend from traditional water resource management institutions to more formalized regimes. Both public and private water governance regimes and systems existed though most of these lacked proper documentation and clearly defined terms of engagement among relevant actors. These systems applied diverse water management approaches creating significance differences in plant species diversity (p