3. Drought management.

Droughts are generally associated with sustained periods of significantly lower soil moisture levels and
water supply than the normal levels around which the local environment and society have stabilized
Droughts have been defined from several viewpoints, including:
(1) meteorological definition;
(2) agricultural definition;
(3) hydrologic definition; and
(4) Economic definition.
Hydrologic drought typically refers to periods of below-normal streamflow and/or depleted reservoir
storage. Economic drought concerns the economic areas of human activity affected by drought as a result
of physical processes. Agricultural drought typically refers to periods where the soil moisture is
inadequate to initiate and sustain crop growth. Meteorological drought is the time when the actual
cumulative moisture supply falls short.
Droughts continue to rate as one of the most severe weather-induced problems around the world. Global
attention to natural hazard reduction includes drought as one of the major hazards.
Shortage of water supply during drought periods is such a significant factor for the general welfare that its
effect cannot easily be overstated. Domestic water supply shortages during these periods in particular
have been crucial in some cases and as a result, various measures have been initiated by different water
supply agencies to reduce water demand during such periods.
These measures, which may be considered as semi-empirical to empirical, include water metering, leak
detection and repair, rate structures, regulations on use, educational programs, drought contingency
planning, water recycling and reuse, pressure reduction, and so on. Such efforts are collectively termed
water conservation, although there has not been a uniform definition among authors.
Experience from past droughts have shown that the action of watermanagers can
greatly influence the magnitude of the monetary and nonmonetary losses from
drought. A variety of drought management options have been undertaken in
response to anticipated shortages of water, which can be categorized as
(1) demand reduction measures;
(2) Efficiency improvements in water supply and distribution system; and
(3) emergency water supplies.
A topology of drought management options is given in Table 11.6.1.
Not only is water conservation necessary during drought periods, but its economic
merits are also important to consider. In the United States, federal mandates urge
that opportunities for water conservation be included as a part of the economic
evaluation of proposed water supply projects.
Water conservation during drought periods, however, requires important attention
because our demand for water may exceed the available resource in the demand
environment. Conservation may be achieved through different activities. These
include but are not limited to the following:
1. reducing the level and/or altering the time pattern of demand by metering, leak
detection and repair, rate structure changes, regulations on use (e.g., plumbing
codes), education programs, drought contingency planning;
2. modifying management of existing water development and supplies by
recycling, reuse, and pressure reduction; and
3. increasing upstream watershed management and conjunctive use of ground and
surface water.
 Drought conditions and management strategies in Kenya
Kenya has been stricken by various disasters. The most dominant disasters being; droughts,
floods, fire, terrorism, technological accidents, diseases and epidemics that disrupt people’s
livelihoods, destroy the infrastructure, divert planned use of resources, interrupt economic
activities and retard development.
Kenya is a highly drought prone country, because of its peculiar eco-climatic conditions as only
about 20% of the territory receives high and regular rainfall. The rest, i.e. 80% of the territory, is
arid and semi-arid lands where annual rainfall varies from 200 to 500 mm, and periodical
droughts are part of the climate system.
Droughts in Kenya adversely affect all sectors of the economy and the population at large. This is
because it:
i) affects water supply in both rural and urban areas,
ii) leads to reduced hydropower generation and power rationing,
iii) causes crop failures and reduced food security,
iv) causes deaths of humans, livestock and wildlife,
v) leads to job losses when industries shut down as resources get depleted,
vi) causes the deterioration of human health due to malnutrition and poor access to quality
water and
vii) causes conflicts between communities and wildlife. The scorching effect of droughts also
leads to environmental degradation – desertification and bio-diversity loss.
Drought Monitoring and Early Warning Systems
There is a Drought Monitoring Centre with its headquarters in Nairobi, established by the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), known as IGAD Climate Prediction and
Applications Centre (ICPAC), whose objectives are as follows: