Lands, Water, Environment & Natural Resources

Vision:

Sustainable access to clean, safe and adequate water in a well-planned and secure environment

Mission:

To plan, promote, conserve and protect the county natural resources for sustainability of quality life.

Conscious of the environmental challenges in the Cheragany hills, escarpments and the Kerio Valley, the county government has planted 1,100,000 assorted exotic tree seedlings on farmlands and institutions. Further, 6,000 Bamboo seedlings were planted in wetlands, springs and water catchment areas that include: Lelan Wetland, Emsoo Dam Wetland, Kap Ali Spring in Iten Town and Lolgarini Dam in Kabiemit.

Deforestation, forest encroachment, charcoal burning, soil erosion, forest fires, illegal logging being  the main causes of environmental degradation, the County has put in place measures to curb the menace through enacting the Elgeyo Marakwet Charcoal Act, 2017 which is intended to regulate production of charcoal and enhance environmental conservation.

In collaboration with the ministry of lands, physical planning and the National Land Commission the county has been able to fast track land adjudication in eight sections resulting in issuance of title deeds thus enhancing secure land tenure.

The Iten Town Spatial Plan was completed, and as of 2017, four other development plans are ongoing for other urban areas like Kapsowar, Sokobora, Flax and Kamwosor.

Currently water services has improved in rural and urban areas from 32% to 40% and 47% to 55% respectively. This is owed to community-based projects and water service providers which has seen more than 355 kilometres of pipeline extended thus increasing the number of households with access to piped water by 9,119.