This report presents an innovative and participatory approach to identifying hotspots of water scarcity and conflicts, exemplified by the Ewaso Ng’iro North Basin in Kenya. Hotspots are areas within the Basin that show problematic situations of water scarcity and/or water conflicts. Hotspots are therefore an important indication of where and how to set priorities of water development in the basin.
The approach combines spatially disaggregated baselines with a participatory assessment involving expert and contextual knowledge, and complements the current state assessment of hotspots with anticipating the impact of future developments under three scenarios, namely peripheral, agrarian and industrial transformations.
CETRAD runs a rich hydromet data and information base generated from its long term and comprehensive monitoring network in the upper Ewaso Ngiro North river basin. Most of this data is now linked through a real time transmission system and interfaced to its database as well as to some selected Water Resources Users Associations (WRUAs) in the upstream areas.
