How is water availability related to the land use and morphology of an inland valley wetland in Kenya?

Böhme, Beate; Becker, M.; Diekkrüger, Bernd; Förch, Gerd

doi:10.1016/j.pce.2016.03.005

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…These activities have significant impacts on soil moisture and groundwater table variability, thus soil hydrological regimes at the riparian and valley bottom zones. Our findings are similar to those reported by Böhme et al () in the Tegu inland valley of Kenya, which indicated that drainage channels are usually blocked by farmers during the dry season, thus redirecting water into plots and controlling the rise of water table, whereas in wet seasons, the channels are unblocked to allow water to flow out of the inland valley. These varying soil hydrological regimes have significant implications for the inland valley hydrologic response to disturbance, agriculture, biogeochemical cycling, biodiversity, and climate change.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

supporting

confidence: 90%

“…The agricultural potential of small wetlands depends on the distribution of hydrological regimes, which is controlled by the spatial and temporal dynamics of soil moisture content and depth to groundwater being highly heterogeneous in space and time (Gómez-Plaza, Alvarez-Rogel, Albaladejo, & Castillo, 2000;Mitsch & Gosselink, 2015). This is due to variability in soil properties, precipitation pattern, wetland's morphology, land use, and management (Böhme, Becker, Diekkrüger, & Förch, 2016;Robinson et al, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Determining hydrological regimes in an agriculturally used tropical inland valley wetland in Central Uganda using soil moisture, groundwater, and digital elevation data

Gabiri

Diekkrüger

Leemhuis

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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Inadequate knowledge exists on the distribution of soil moisture and shallow groundwater in intensively cultivated inland valley wetlands in tropical environments, which are required for determining the hydrological regime. This study investigated the spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture along 4 hydrological positions segmented as riparian zone, valley bottom, fringe, and valley slope in an agriculturally used inland valley wetland in Central Uganda. The determined hydrological regimes of the defined hydrological positions are based on soil moisture deficit calculated from the depth to the groundwater table. For that, the accuracy and reliability of satellite‐derived surface models, SRTM‐30m and TanDEM‐X‐12m, for mapping microscale topography and hydrological regimes are evaluated against a 5‐m digital elevation model (DEM) derived from field measurements. Soil moisture and depth to groundwater table were measured using frequency domain reflectometry sensors and piezometers installed along the hydrological positions, respectively. Results showed that spatial and temporal variability in soil moisture increased significantly (p < .05) towards the riparian zone; however, no significant difference was observed between the valley bottom and riparian zone. The distribution of soil hydrological regimes, saturated, near‐saturated, and nonsaturated regimes does not correlate with the hydrological positions. This is due to high spatial and temporal variability in depth to groundwater and soil moisture content across the valley. Precipitation strongly controlled the temporal variability, whereas microscale topography, soil properties, distance from the stream, anthropogenic factors, and land use controlled the spatial variability in the inland valley. TanDEM‐X DEM reasonably mapped the microscale topography and thus soil hydrological regimes relative to the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM. The findings of the study contribute to improved understanding of the distribution of hydrological regimes in an inland valley wetland, which is required for a better agricultural water management planning.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

supporting

confidence: 90%

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confidence: 99%

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Determining hydrological regimes in an agriculturally used tropical inland valley wetland in Central Uganda using soil moisture, groundwater, and digital elevation data

Gabiri

Diekkrüger

Leemhuis

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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“…Due to their high water content, they can be cultivated offseason, and thus they buffer the high climatic variability of the area (Nyamadzawo et al, 2015) as well as human pressure on uphill plots located closer to the villages (Lounang Tchatchouang et al, 2014). However, inland valley exploitation limits should be carefully studied, as overexploitation may have consequences for these specific ecosystems (Böhme et al, 2016;Brouwer et al, 2014;Wood, 2006). Rodenburg et al (2014) estimate that production derived from less than 10 % of the total inland valley area over Africa could meet the total current demand for rice in Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is due to the heterogeneity of inland valleys and the difficulty of capturing fundamental hydrological processes to be generalized. This again calls for documenting water redistribution processes within inland valleys, so as to include water use sustainability in the process of inland valley selection and cultivation (Böhme et al, 2016;Schmitter et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrological functioning of western African inland valleys explored with a critical zone model

Hector

Cohard

Séguis

et al. 2018

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Inland valleys are seasonally waterlogged headwater wetlands, widespread across western Africa. Their role in the hydrological cycle in the humid, hard-rock-dominated Sudanian savanna is not yet well understood. Thus, while in the region recurrent floods are a major issue, and hydropower has been recognized as an important development pathway, the scientific community lacks precise knowledge of streamflow (Q) generation processes and how they could be affected by the presence of inland valleys. Furthermore, inland valleys carry an important agronomic potential, and with the strong demographic rates of the region, they are highly subject to undergoing land cover changes. We address both the questions of the hydrological functioning of inland valleys in the Sudanian savanna of western Africa and the impact of land cover changes on these systems through deterministic sensitivity experiments using a physically based critical zone model (ParFlow-CLM) applied to a virtual generic catchment which comprises an inland valley. Model forcings are based on 20 years of data from the AMMA-CATCH observation service and parameters are evaluated against multiple field data (Q, evapotranspiration – ET –, soil moisture, water table levels, and water storage) acquired on a pilot elementary catchment. The hydrological model applied to the conceptual lithological/pedological model proposed in this study reproduces the main behaviours observed, which allowed those virtual experiments to be conducted. We found that yearly water budgets were highly sensitive to the vegetation distribution: average yearly ET for a tree-covered catchment (944 mm) exceeds that of herbaceous cover (791 mm). ET differences between the two covers vary between 12 % and 24 % of the precipitation of the year for the wettest and driest years, respectively. Consequently, the tree-covered catchment produces a yearly Q amount of 28 % lower on average as compared to a herbaceous-covered catchment, ranging from 20 % for the wettest year to 47 % for a dry year. Trees also buffer interannual variability in ET by 26 % (with respect to herbaceous). On the other hand, pedological features (presence – or absence – of the low-permeability layer commonly found below inland valleys, upstream and lateral contributive areas) had limited impact on yearly water budgets but marked consequences for intraseasonal hydrological processes (sustained/non-sustained baseflow in the dry season, catchment water storage redistribution). Therefore, subsurface features and vegetation cover of inland valleys have potentially significant impacts on downstream water-dependent ecosystems and water uses as hydropower generation, and should focus our attention.

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Retracing Economic Impact of Climate Change Disasters in Africa: Case Study of Drought Episodes and Adaptation in Kenya

Nthambi

Ijioma

2020

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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Valuation studies have shown that drought occurrences have more severe economic impact compared to other natural disasters such as floods. In Kenya, drought has presented complex negative effects on farming communities. The main objective of this chapter is to analyze the economic impacts of drought and identify appropriate climate change adaptation measures in Kenya. To achieve this objective, an empirical approach, combined with secondary data mined from World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal and FAOSTAT databases, has been used in three main steps. First, historical links between population size and land degradation, temperature and rainfall changes with drought events were established. Second, economic impacts of drought on selected economic indicators such as quantities of staple food crop, average food value production, number of undernourished people, gross domestic product, agriculture value added growth, and renewable water resources per annum in Kenya were evaluated. Third, different climate change adaptation measures among farmers in Makueni county were identified using focused group discussions and in-depth interviews, for which the use of bottom-up approach was used to elicit responses. Findings from the binary logistic regression model show a statistical relationship between drought events and a selected set of economic indicators. More specifically, drought events have led to increased use of pesticides, reduced access to credit for agriculture and the annual growth of gross domestic product. One of the main recommendations of this chapter is to involve farmers in designing and implementing community-based climate change adaptation measures, with support from other relevant stakeholders.

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How is water availability related to the land use and morphology of an inland valley wetland in Kenya?

Cited by 15 publications

References 20 publications

Determining hydrological regimes in an agriculturally used tropical inland valley wetland in Central Uganda using soil moisture, groundwater, and digital elevation data

Determining hydrological regimes in an agriculturally used tropical inland valley wetland in Central Uganda using soil moisture, groundwater, and digital elevation data

Hydrological functioning of western African inland valleys explored with a critical zone model

Retracing Economic Impact of Climate Change Disasters in Africa: Case Study of Drought Episodes and Adaptation in Kenya

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