Mapping and Assessing the Ecological Status of Water Sources in Mbarali River Sub catchment

Mbarali river subcatchment (MRS) is an important waterway that faces ongoing degradation due to climate change, land use change and poor institutional management which affected river flows in both quantity and quality. This study presents the findings of the cross-sectional survey conducted to identify, map and assess the ecological status of water sources in MRS. The overall objectives of this study are to provide a general understanding on the number of water sources and their spatial distribution, level of human induced pressure that detrimentally affect the quality of water sources and to propose conservation strategies to be taken onboard at a specific water source to ensure its sustainability. Literature review, field survey and stakeholder consultation were used to accomplish this study. Ecological Management Classes (EMC) adopted from Sood (2017), were used to assess the ecological status of identified water sources. Results revealed that, there are about 200 water sources within MBUMTILU WUA. From identified water sources, only 35% were found to be in good quality and the remaining 65% were degraded from anthropogenic activities. The analysis discloses that, Bottom valley cultivation found to be the leading and deadliest threats to water source. Site specific nature-based interventions were suggested to each identified water source depending on the level of degradation.