Assessment of Water Supply and Demand in Walatsi Sub-Catchment, Busia County, Kenya
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Date
2024-05
Authors
Diang’a, Justus
Obiero, Kennedy
Makokha, Mary
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SCIRP
Abstract
Overexploitation of water supplies remains the most serious constraint on its
sustainability, and many authorities are confronting serious problems in its
management because of growing competition for the ever-dwindling natural
resource. The study aims to assess the supply and demand for water in the
Walatsi sub-catchment from 2022 to 2030. Data from key informants, experiment, direct observations, and GIS analyses were utilized and analyzed
through QGIS software and Microsoft Excel, and a decision support system -
WEAP model was adopted for scenario analysis and simulations. Using
WEAP’s built-in supply and demand database, available water supply, present
and future water demand, and water balance were determined, and a correlation between simulated water balance and demand was established to interpret water balance results further. Results from the study indicated an annual
supply between 31.63 and 31.65 Million cubic meters (Mm3
) and a monthly
supply ranging from 0.48 to 6.80 Mm3
. An annual increase in water demand
by 27.59% from 6.45 Mm3 in 2022 was observed, which further revealed a declining annual water balance by −7.07% from 25.18 Mm3 in 2022 and an increasing annual monthly water deficit in February from −0.02 to −0.15 Mm3
.
The −0.999 coefficient explained the unmet demand gap from 0.24% to
1.85%. Variations in monthly supply annually are due to the bimodal dry and
rainy seasons, and annual supply is due to regular and leap years. The positive
trend in demand is likely to put pressure on available water supplies. An increasing deficit indicates pressure on water sources and exploitation of the
reserve. This study, therefore, indicates a water scarcity sub-catchment.
Description
Article
Keywords
Supply and Demand of Water in a Sub-Catchment, Sub-Catchment Water Management
Citation
Obiero, K., & Makokha, M. (2024). Assessment of Water Supply and Demand in Walatsi Sub-Catchment, Busia County, Kenya. Open Access Library Journal, 11(5), 1-19.