Earthwatch Conservation Update

I just received an enewsletter from Earthwatch. Because it has an update on the water situation in Samburu and the Communities, Water, and Wildlife project there, I thought I'd pass on the information to you. The full article can be found online, and the enewsletter also includes information about climate change and other CRI projects.

Earthwatch Kenya: Looking for Water
By Jessi Flynn, Conservation Program Officer

Water and grass are scarce in northeastern Kenya where Earthwatch’s Samburu CRI is located. At times, there is not enough for humans, their livestock, and local wildlife to share. Climate change in this region seems to be leading to less rainfall and increased temperatures, and longer, stronger droughts. If this continues, access to clean water will decrease, water impurities will become more concentrated, and erosion of fragile habitat will increase under the hooves of the livestock that are so important to local communities.

Climate and Water

The Communities, Water, and Wildlife project volunteers, led by Dr. Alex Njue, have been looking for water sources throughout the Samburu region. They have mapped permanent and temporary water sources, and have been testing water quality. This information is creating a baseline that can be used to see if the area becomes more arid in the future, an expected result of climate changes, and where clean water will still be found.

As herders walk with their herds of goats, sheep, and cattle across the landscape, they must drink any water that is available. As Philip Leitore, the Wamba Mission Hospital coordinator of infection prevention and sanitation said, for a herder “there is no dirty water.” But the hope is that with this information people will be able
to find and choose cleaner water sources, as 80 percent of nomadic diseases are waterborne. So far, Earthwatch teams have helped find that the cleanest water is found in boreholes, with no fecal contamination, in comparison with piped water, which has a two percent contamination level, streams, which have 20 percent contamination, rivers, with 90 percent contamination, and dams, with 100 percent contamination.

People must often drink from contaminated sources, especially as water disappears in droughts. Julius Lesoori, a local intern trained in public health, is looking into possible intervention measures on improving drinking water in homes by undertaking a study that involves water filtration. This, combined with other locally developed measures may improve quality of drinking water in homes.