The “Safe and Sustainable Water for Turkana” project aims to restore and ensure the continuous operation of rural water systems in vulnerable communities in Turkana County, in northwestern Kenya. This semi-arid region faces a structural water access crisis due to high climate variability, deteriorating water infrastructure, lack of maintenance services, and population growth in pastoralist contexts.
Currently, it is estimated that more than 40% of rural water systems in Turkana are inactive or operate only intermittently. Many wells experience recurrent failures in pumps, loss of solar energy, or hydraulic infrastructure problems, forcing communities to rely on unprotected sources, transport water in jerrycans over long distances, or go without water for weeks. This situation severely impacts health, children’s schooling, local productivity, and gender equality, particularly for women and girls responsible for collecting water.
The proposed intervention is based on a model of professionalized community management and a results-based financing approach, led by the Water Services Maintenance Trust Fund (WSMTF) and the Diocese of Lodwar, with international technical support. Physical rehabilitation of infrastructure (pumps, solar systems, networks), training of community operators, and installation of monitoring systems to measure flow, uptime, and volume delivered are planned, allowing for the accounting of water benefits according to the VWBA 2.0 framework. The project also incorporates WASH BA principles to capture additional benefits related to access and health.
Turkana County has one of the lowest levels of access to drinking water in Kenya, with less than 40% of the rural population regularly accessing safe water sources. In many areas, residents must walk between 5 and 15 kilometers to reach collection points, which are often intermittent or contaminated. This situation not only creates a physical and time burden for communities but also serious health risks.
The structural causes that explain this situation are multiple and self-reinforcing:
• Lack of preventive maintenance: Over 40% of installed systems (manual or motorized pump wells, solar panels, networks) are out of operation or have constant failures. This is due to the absence of systematic maintenance protocols, spare parts, and trained local technicians.
The project proposes a comprehensive set of technical-operational solutions adapted to the environmental, institutional, and socioeconomic conditions of Turkana County. These solutions address both the physical recovery of infrastructure and the institutionalization of sustainable and measurable operation models.
The first line of action consists of the physical rehabilitation of rural water systems, including repair or replacement of manual and motorized pumps, installation of solar energy systems for pumping, cleaning of collapsed wells, lining and sanitary protection of catchments, as well as improvements in elevated storage tanks and community distribution networks. These improvements aim to restore full system functionality, increase operational reliability, and reduce downtime.
In parallel, professionalized maintenance contracts based on results will be established, where service provider compensation will be directly linked to verifiable performance metrics: number of system operation days (uptime), volume delivered per day, service continuity, and community satisfaction. This introduces a model of technical accountability and operational efficiency.
A third key component is local technical training, aimed at forming community operators in areas such as pump operation, minor failure resolution, preventive maintenance, water hygiene, technical data collection, and communication with supervisory entities. This approach aims to strengthen local self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on external technicians.
The fourth solution is digital monitoring through the incorporation of flow and uptime sensors connected to remote management digital platforms. This technology enables continuous data acquisition on actual system operation and facilitates the calculation of volumetric water benefits (VWBs), applicable to functional infrastructure improvements.
Finally, the project will be implemented through a phased strategy. The first phase includes detailed diagnostics of selected infrastructures, initial rehabilitation, and pilot site testing of monitoring and maintenance systems. The second phase, with broader scope and multi-year duration, involves scaling the model to multiple communities, refining the results-based model, and consolidating a decentralized and traceable water governance system over time.
The project implementation is organized into four successive stages, with clearly defined technical and operational objectives to ensure traceability, additionality, and permanence of benefits in accordance with the VWBA/WASH BA framework:
First stage – Technical diagnosis and baseline establishment (months 1 to 3): This phase involves comprehensive field assessments to identify the operational status of each selected rural system. Current flow will be measured using portable flowmeters, and historical uptime will be recorded through community interviews, existing records, and direct observation. Additionally, population coverage of each system will be determined, including average distance to water access and collection times. Quality control in this phase is supported by georeferenced records and standardized mobile forms. These data will establish the baseline for VWBs and WASH metrics accounting.
Second stage – Physical rehabilitation and system activation (months 4 to 7): Prioritized systems will be intervened through repairs or replacements of pumps, solar modules, hydraulic structures, and storage tanks. Each rehabilitated system will be validated through hydraulic tests verifying restored flow, as well as pressure and electrical operation tests. Control is conducted through technical inspections, component verification forms, and photographic records. This stage also includes installing flow sensors at key points to facilitate subsequent monitoring.
Third stage – Training, data digitalization, and results-based maintenance (months 8 to 31): A training program will be developed for local operators focused on safe operation, preventive maintenance, fault resolution, and basic system monitoring. This stage marks the beginning of operational data digitalization, with training on using georeferenced mobile forms to record daily system operation, flow rates, uptime, and technical incidents. Maintenance contracts will be formalized with WSMTF, where compensation is linked to achieving monthly uptime targets, service continuity, and population coverage. Monitoring will be conducted through monthly digital reports with cross-verification by sensors and scheduled technical visits. This stage consolidates long-term sustainable system management.
Fourth stage – Consolidation of digital monitoring, validation, and benefit reporting (months 8 to 36): In parallel with operational deployment, a hybrid monitoring system will be implemented: flow and uptime sensors with remote transmission (GSM or WiFi) where possible, integrated with a digital management platform, and manual records in mobile forms validated by technical staff. This consolidated digitalization will provide continuous time series, automated failure alerts, and full traceability for external audit and VWBA/WASH BA metric reporting. Appendix A-4 of VWBA 2.0 will be used to calculate the additional m³ of water delivered due to uptime increase. Access impacts will be evaluated under the WASH BA approach. Semi-annual technical reports will be issued, with annual external review to validate data and ensure methodological integrity.
This strategy combines appropriate technology (solar pumping, digital sensors, mobile forms) with community capacity and financial incentives, ensuring the model’s replicability, traceability, and sustainability in the medium and long term.
The “Safe and Sustainable Water for Turkana” project seeks to restore operational continuity, improve access, and ensure the sustainability of community water supply systems in rural areas of Turkana County, northern Kenya. This intervention responds to a structural problem that combines low basic service coverage, recurring technical failures in existing infrastructure, extreme weather conditions, and weak local management capacity.
The main objective is to generate quantifiable water benefits (in m³/year) through the rehabilitation of community water systems that currently operate intermittently or are out of service. To this end, a comprehensive strategy is adopted based on four pillars: technical diagnosis, physical rehabilitation, digital monitoring, and professionalized operation with a results-based maintenance approach.
In the first stage, a technical and social survey establishes the baseline, identifying the operational status, population coverage, and actual water volume delivered by each system. This quantifies the access gap and precisely defines priority intervention sites.
The second stage involves rehabilitating key water infrastructure, including pumps, solar panels, distribution networks, and catchment points. These works restore full system functionality and increase operational reliability. In parallel, flow and uptime sensors are installed to facilitate measurement of water benefits and service traceability.
In the third phase, a performance-linked maintenance model is implemented, where trained community operators manage continuous system operation. Operator or maintenance entity compensation is tied to verifiable indicators such as actual system uptime, water volume delivered, and number of users covered.
The final phase consolidates digital monitoring through combined use of remote sensors, mobile forms, and data management platforms. These inputs support the calculation of water benefits (VWBs) under the VWBA 2.0 methodology using Appendix A-4 and also capture impacts on access and health under the WASH BA framework.
The initiative is developed within the Lake Turkana watershed, a fragile system of great importance for pastoralist communities in northern Kenya. The project not only improves living conditions, health, and water security for the beneficiary population but also strengthens climate resilience, reduces structural inequalities, and promotes evidence-based and financially sustainable resource management.
This comprehensive approach ensures the additionality, traceability, and permanence of the generated water benefits, aligning with international water accounting standards and directly contributing to 14 Sustainable Development Goals, including universal access to safe water (SDG 6), health (SDG 3), climate resilience (SDG 13), and gender equality (SDG 5).
