Determination of the influence of socio-economic activities on streamflow in South West upper Tana basin, Kenya

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the influence of socio-economic activities on streamflow undertaken in South West Upper Tana Basin, Kenya (SWUT), one of the larger Upper Tana Basin basins. In this study, primary data was obtained by administering questionnaires, while secondary data was obtained from Water Resources Authority (WRA). The administration of questionnaires was in the period between April 2019 and June 2020. Logit regression was run to determine the influence of the different socio-economic activities on streamflow. The results showed that agriculture was the main socio-economic activity influencing water abstraction in the study area. Agricultural practices such as farm size, income from crop sales and fertiliser use significantly influenced water abstraction with P values (0.04, 0.01 and 0.02) < 0.05. The study also established household characteristics such as the income of the household head, income level of household head, marital status, age, residence period, level of education, the technology used, and gender of the household head positively influenced water abstraction. However, these factors did not significantly influence water abstraction with P values of 0.23, 0.78, 0.50, 0.60, 0.74, and 0.52 for the income level of household head, marital status, age, residence period and level of education, respectively, being > 0.05. The study recommends the formulation of policies to ensure efficient water abstraction in the basin. Water Resources Authority should also ensure that all water abstractors are licensed to minimise over-abstraction.