Influence of Community Participation in Water Resource Management in Luanda K’otieno Beach in Rarieda Sub County, Siaya County Kenya

There is concern over the future of the world’s water resources due to rapid growth of human population and human activities such as deforestation, pollution which has led to water being scarce. This has made water resource management to become a topic which need to be discussed. In order to ensure Water resource management is sustained then integration across sectors is required and to place the emphasis on the community participation. The objective of the study was to examine the influence of community participation in managing the water resource of Luanda K’Otieno Beach, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive research design and data collection involved administration of questionnaires to respondents. Results from the study indicated that majority of the community members in Luanda K’Otieno beach were not involved in water resource management however majority of the community members were willing to participate in water resource management because there was great desire among community members to have reliable access to clean and safe water. The study concluded that there was generally low community participation in water resource management of Luanda K’Otieno beach. This was largely due to perceived dysfunctional beach management committee that was not doing its coordination role effectively and low levels of awareness on the importance of water resource management. The study recommended that there should be deliberate efforts by the County Government of Siaya through the department of fisheries to streamline the management of Luanda K’Otieno beach to address challenges with leadership and management challenges. In addition the beach management unit should mobilize and sensitize the community members around the beach on the importance of conservation of the water resources and why it is important that the such conservation efforts incorporates all members of the community. Keywords:Community participation; resource management; influence