Abstract:
The management of water resource has presented a major challenge to the various organizations mandated to manage
this valuable resource. This has been due to the high rates of population growth and urbanization which has led to an increased
demand for water for various uses which in turn puts a lot of stress on existing water sources. The main challenges include lack of
well-defined processes of information flow from collection, storage and dissemination. We also have different storage formats
hindering proper information sharing resulting to duplication. At present water resources information in Athi River Catchment i s
sent by use of emails and compact discs (cds) ones it’s collected. It is then added into existing databases at the regional o r
headquarters offices.
The main goal of the study was to come up with an integrated web-based system for water resources information management. This
will provide a proper water information collection, storage and dissemination platform. The integrated system is composed of a
spatial enabled and a centralized database to store data, a web based mapping component that provides tools for data updating and
visualization and a website that hosts the mapping component and also provides additional information related to water resources
use. Open Source and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technologies were used to create the system. The system contained
information on surface water, ground water, water quality, water pollution and water shed protection.
The system offered a solution to management of water resources information, by providing one shared integrated system hence
reducing duplication and lowering maintenance cost. The system also offers a streamlined flow of information to all WRMA (Wat er
resources management authority) offices which is mandated to manage Athi River Catchment hence ensuring there is well
structured process of collecting, storing and disseminating of information. Adoption of the system will ensures we leverage
advancement in GIS technology in management of our various resources.
