Using data collection to build trust and ownership in transboundary water allocation planning

a case study from the Mara River Basin

Journal article (2024)

Authors

Lauren Zielinski Zielinski Environmental Monitoring and Evaluation LLC
M.E. McClain Water Resources - CEG , IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
William Ojwang WWF Kenya
Christian Joseph WWF Tanzania
David Tickner WWF-UK
Gordon Mumbo Winrock International
Ali Said Matano Africa Centre for Health Environment & Water Services
Joel Nobert University of Dar Es Salaam
Annette Huber-Lee Stockholm Environment Institute, USA
Research Group
Water Resources (CEG) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2024 Lauren Zielinski, M.E. McClain, William Ojwang, Christian Joseph, David Tickner, Gordon Mumbo, Ali Said Matano, Joel Nobert, Annette Huber-Lee
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2023.2291241
Data Water allocation Ownership Transboundary Mara River Basin
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2024

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Department

Water Management

Research Group

Water Resources

Abstract

Following a 2015 Memorandum of Understanding, efforts began to develop a transboundary water allocation plan in the Mara River Basin between Kenya and Tanzania. Many lessons were learned along that way, including the importance of involving basin and national water authorities in all phases of data collection, planning and decision-making; understanding existing water management structures to promote communication and cooperation within countries; and using locally collected data whenever possible. Applying these concepts to future efforts can promote, although not ensure, ownership of the process within each country, trust between countries, and productive discussions around transboundary water resources.