Understanding water and land use within Tana and Athi River Basins in Kenya: opportunities for improvement

Langat, Philip Kibet; Kumar, Lalit; Koech, Richard

doi:10.1007/s40899-018-0274-0

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Our findings agree with other previous studies [73,74] conducted in various watersheds in China, where the increase in woodland resulted in a lower runoff and water discharge. Elsewhere, authors reported the reduction in forest cover driven by human activities as the main cause of increases in surface runoff and flood peak discharge [75][76][77]. Overall, our results demonstrated that the changes in land cover driven by afforestation activities (e.g., GTGP and NFCP) across the two mountainous catchments were probably the main cause of decreasing flood peak discharge during the 1990-2016/2017.…”

Section: Impact Of Reforestation Driven Lulc Changes On Flood Peak DIsupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Impact Of Reforestation Driven Lulc Changes On Flood Peak DImentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Reforestation Induced Land Cover Change (1990–2017) on Flood Peak Discharge Using HEC-HMS Hydrological Model and Satellite Observations: A Study in Two Mountain Basins, China

Kabeja

Guo

et al. 2020

Water

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Understanding the effect of land use and land cover (LULC) type change on watershed hydrological response is essential for adopting applicable measures to control floods. In China, the Grain to Green Program (GTGP) and the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP) have had a substantial impact on LULC. We investigate the effect of these conservation efforts on flood peak discharge in two mountainous catchments. We used a series of Landsat images ranging from 1990 to 2016/2017 to evaluate the LULC changes. Further to this, the hydrological responses at the basin and sub-basin scale were generated by the Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) under four LULC scenarios. Between 1990 and 2016/2017, both catchments experienced an increase in forest and urban land by 18% and 2% in Yanhe and by 16% and 8% in Guangyuan, respectively. In contrast, the agricultural land decreased by approximately 30% in Yanhe and 24% in Guangyuan, respectively. The changes in land cover resulted in decrease in flood peak discharge ranging from 14% in Yanhe to 6% in Guangyuan. These findings provide a better understanding on the impact of reforestation induced LULC change on spatial patterns of typical hydrological responses of mountainous catchment and could help to mitigate flash flood hazards in other mountainous regions.

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Section: Impact Of Reforestation Driven Lulc Changes On Flood Peak DIsupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Impact Of Reforestation Driven Lulc Changes On Flood Peak DImentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Reforestation Induced Land Cover Change (1990–2017) on Flood Peak Discharge Using HEC-HMS Hydrological Model and Satellite Observations: A Study in Two Mountain Basins, China

Kabeja

Guo

et al. 2020

Water

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“…Tana River (Figure 1) is Kenya's longest and largest river, and is of immense significance to the country's economy, as well as both the upstream and downstream communities. Within the Tana River Basin (TRB), there are ambitious plans for water resources development, including multipurpose dams for hydropower generation and irrigation, as well as industrial and domestic water supply; expanding irrigation schemes; and inter and intra transfer diversions [46,47]. The Garissa discharge gauging station is located at 0 • 27 49.19 S, 39 • 38 11.77 E and has arguably the longest and most reliable streamflow observation records in the country; thus, it is the obvious reference for the planning, engineering design, and management of the proposed water systems in the basin.…”

Section: Study Site and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of the Most Suitable Probability Distribution Models for Maximum, Minimum, and Mean Streamflow

Langat

Kumar

Koech

2019

Water

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Hydrological studies are useful in designing, planning, and managing water resources, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Probability distribution models are applied in extreme flood analysis, drought investigations, reservoir volumes studies, and time-series modelling, among other various hydrological studies. However, the selection of the most suitable probability distribution and associated parameter estimation procedure, as a fundamental step in flood frequency analysis, has remained the most difficult task for many researchers and water practitioners. This paper explains the current approaches that are used to identify the probability distribution functions that are best suited for the estimation of maximum, minimum, and mean streamflows. Then, it compares the performance of six probability distributions, and illustrates four fitting tests, evaluation procedures, and selection procedures through using a river basin as a case study. An assemblage of the latest computer statistical packages in an integrated development environment for the R programming language was applied. Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), goodness-of-fit (GoF) tests-based analysis, and information criteria-based selection procedures were used to identify the most suitable distribution models. The results showed that the gamma (Pearson type 3) and lognormal distribution models were the best-fit functions for maximum streamflows, since they had the lowest Akaike Information Criterion values of 1083 and 1081, and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) values corresponding to 1087 and 1086, respectively. The Weibull, GEV, and Gumbel functions were the best-fit functions for the annual minimum flows of the Tana River, while the lognormal and GEV distribution functions the best-fit functions for the annual mean flows of the Tana River. The choices of the selected distribution functions may be used for forecasting hydrologic events and detecting the inherent stochastic characteristics of the hydrologic variables for predictions in the Tana River Basin. This paper also provides a significant contribution to the current understanding of predicting extreme hydrological events for various purposes. It indicates a direction for hydro-meteorological scientists within the current debate surrounding whether to use historical data and trend estimation techniques for predicting future events with issues of non-stationarity and underlying stochastic processes.

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“…River deltas provide multiple ecosystem services and are major centres of agriculture, industry and commerce globally [1], making them vulnerable to intensive development and unsustainable utilization [2]. These ecosystems are, however, facing degradation [2] through erosion, subsistence and subsequent flooding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tana Delta in Kenya is of global, regional, national and local importance in the conservation of biodiversity resources and has immense social and economic value [1] [4]. These values are conflicting with dire consequences on the Delta's biodiversity, which include endemic species such as Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus) and Tana River crested Mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yearning for an Apple: The Changing Lifestyle of the Tana River Delta Communities in Kenya and Implications on Livelihoods and Conservation of Natural Resources

Mbuvi¹,

Ndalilo²,

Matiku³

et al. 2020

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Tana River Delta is occupied predominantly by pastoral and farming communities that inhabit defined zones in the Delta. A study was undertaken to assess changes in the lifestyle of communities living in the Delta and its implications on livelihoods and conservation of natural resources. Literature review, household questionnaires, social and resource mapping, key informant interviews, village-based focus group discussion and structured observations were used to collect data. It was evident that the delta communities are aware of the delta resources, their uses, utilization and best management options. Additionally, they were knowledgeable on the delta resources use by non-residents, the resultant conflicts and the food status in the community. They had a good understanding of the new food they would wish to have in their diets and the means of accessing them. Modernity has pushed the community to yearn for development ("Yearn for an Apple") to access foods that other parts of the country are eating, with implications on livelihoods and conservation of Delta resources. Reversing degradation and enhancing the development of the Delta area require the involvement of all stakeholders, informing and seeking the consensus of decision-makers and the real users of the Tana delta. The Government has to provide overall security and development.

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Understanding water and land use within Tana and Athi River Basins in Kenya: opportunities for improvement

Cited by 20 publications

References 61 publications

The Impact of Reforestation Induced Land Cover Change (1990–2017) on Flood Peak Discharge Using HEC-HMS Hydrological Model and Satellite Observations: A Study in Two Mountain Basins, China

The Impact of Reforestation Induced Land Cover Change (1990–2017) on Flood Peak Discharge Using HEC-HMS Hydrological Model and Satellite Observations: A Study in Two Mountain Basins, China

Identification of the Most Suitable Probability Distribution Models for Maximum, Minimum, and Mean Streamflow

Yearning for an Apple: The Changing Lifestyle of the Tana River Delta Communities in Kenya and Implications on Livelihoods and Conservation of Natural Resources

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