Assessing Reserve Flows for the Mara River

Abstract

The Kenya Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MOWI), formed in 2003, has as its fundamental goal conserving, managing and protecting water resources for socioeconomic development. In 2002, the Water Act was passed to provide for the management, conservation, use and control of water resources and for the acquisition and regulation of rights to use water. The Tanzania Ministry of Water and Irrigation was formed in 2005 to ensure that water resources are developed and managed sustainably in collaboration with all stakeholders and to facilitate participatory irrigation. In 2008, Tanzania passed the Water Resources Management Act to provide for a legal and institutional framework for sustainable management and development of water resources, to outline principles for water resources management, to make provisions for prevention and control of water pollution, and to provide for participation of stakeholders and the implementation of the National Water Policy. Within both the Kenya Water Act (2002) and the Tanzania Water Resources Management Act (2008), reserve flows were defined as that quantity and quality of water necessary to satisfy basic human need and to protect aquatic ecosystems, and they were given the first priority in water resource allocation.