Using data collection to build trust and ownership in transboundary water allocation planning: a case study from the Mara River Basin

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.

KEYWORDS:

• data
• ownership
• water allocation
• transboundary
• Mara River Basin

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Efforts referenced in this paper were carried out under the Mau Mara Serengeti Sustainable Water Initiative for Kenya, funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) with funding from unrestricted funds and HSBC funding through WWF UK, and the Sustainable Water Partnership, funded in part by the US Agency for International Development, with additional activities funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme.