How can we protect springs that are used by everyone and owned by no one?

At dawn in Tiriptim, dairy farmers would lead cattle deep into the forest in search of water pools. Livestock routinely drank directly from the same springs that families relied on. The result was predictable: trampled vegetation, contamination, and growing tensions between people and wildlife around already stressed water points.

Tiriptim sits within the Mau Forest Complex, one of Kenya’s most important water towers and a climate-regulating ecosystem providing water to millions in the Rift Valley and Lake Basin regions. Yet securing its health is increasingly challenging. On the ground, encroachment, illegal settlements and unresolved land-tenure disputes weaken protection efforts, while broader governance gaps allow degradation to continue.

Natural springs are among the most accessible sources of clean water, but also among the most vulnerable. Climate variability, pollution, land-use change, and unsustainable abstraction can push a spring past the point of recovery. Many new springs form over centuries. When flow declines or quality drops, competition intensifies. Access becomes contested. A documented report comes from Laikipia County, where prolonged scarcity around water sources escalated into open conflict. Youth once guarded intake points with crude weapons as downstream and upstream users clashed over access to water. Tensions eased only after local leaders negotiated a shared intake and equitable distribution system.

Such incidents show that when governance fails, even small springs can become conflict flashpoints.

Debates around springwater on public land surface the same questions repeatedly: Who is responsible for protection? Who has the right to draw water, and under what rules? The literature on protected areas and participatory forest management is clear: conservation is effective only when communities have a credible voice and governance structures are inclusive. Infrastructure alone is insufficient.

In Bomet, Kericho, and Nakuru counties, springs with strong flow rates, typically around 100 m³ per day, are generally sufficient to meet both household and livestock water needs, as well as support some small-scale productive activities. However, these water supplies are not unlimited, underscoring the need to establish a carefully governed, efficiently managed, and equitable distribution framework in conjunction with physical rehabilitation efforts.

Ten high-yield springs, Kwenet, Lelach, Chemachor, Tapketkirok, Tiriptim, Kimeswon, Tiriakan, Kapkoi, and Kipkoris, were rehabilitated using a systems approach to spring conservation. This work involved upgrading infrastructure, enhancing local governance, and implementing participatory monitoring. Community-based Spring User Committees and Water Resource User Associations (WRUAs) received in-depth training on the 2016 Water Act and the principles underpinning devolved water governance. This capacity-building enabled participants to harmonise local practices with national standards, reinforce by-laws, and institute participatory and inclusive monitoring frameworks, thereby enhancing transparency and fostering water stewardship.

The Enhancing Springs Protection Access and Livelihoods (ESPAL) initiative, a partnership comprising SNV, IDH, Browns Plantation and Infusion, and KTDA, supported this comprehensive approach, which was carried out collaboratively with the county governments of Kericho, Nandi, and Bomet, alongside the Water Resources Authority and various community bodies.

Geoffrey Mitei, Senior Water Resource Officer for the Kericho Sub-basin, noted: “We worked with the communities to form Spring User Committees of 12 members—men, women, youth, and people with disabilities. They have been trained on riparian protection, conflict resolution, and operation and maintenance. They now develop by-laws and work closely with WRUAs in line with the Water Act 2016.”

Today, more than 1,200 households enjoy more reliable access to water for domestic use and livestock.

Fencing riparian zones, enforcing compliant water use, and embedding community monitoring have helped stabilise local catchments. Better-managed springs reduce forest pressure, e.g., livestock no longer trample spring sites or push deeper into the forest in search of water, lowering conflict risks and reducing contamination.

These ecological gains translate into several social and economic benefits. Reduced collection time, now often under five minutes instead of over an hour, has especially improved women’s daily workloads, freeing up time for their participation in other activities. “Before, I would wait in line for more than two hours, primarily because I had to wait for the spring to recharge. Now it takes less than five minutes. We have six fetching points and four washing points. I get more time to go to the market to sell my produce and take care of my household duties,” explained 20-year-old Diana Kipkoech.

Communities and schools also report better hygiene, reduced waterborne diseases such as typhoid, and improved school attendance.

The Mau is not a single forest but a living network of catchments, springs and tributaries. When one fails, others feel the impact, sometimes kilometres away. Strengthening this system will rely on deeper, more inclusive governance: iterative learning processes that engage groups often left out of water decisions; gender-responsive monitoring that highlights disparities; and the careful replication of spring-governance structures across catchments so that clear by-laws, simple decision-making rules and trusted grievance pathways become the norm rather than the exception.

At the same time, long-term success depends on more predictable and sustainable financing. Community water funds and pooled contributions are helpful, but county, national, and development partners must reinforce these efforts if maintenance, riparian protection, and future rehabilitation are to keep pace with growing demand.

Ultimately, springwater conservation is preventive work made possible when local governance is strong, trust is built across boundaries, and all users recognise their shared stake in the system.

Decision-makers now face a simple yet urgent choice: consider reinforcing governance, financing, and community structures that could sustain springs. The status quo cannot sustain households, ecosystems, and local economies, and the Mau’s springs are not isolated points on a map; they are the living infrastructure of a water tower. Protecting them today will shape the region’s resilience for generations to come.