International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B7. Istanbul 2004 
Arable land per segment/Imagatte 
120 
100 
80 
Area of arable land 
- (ha) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
32003 
Figure 2: change in arable land 
Table 2: Land use cover statistics 
Data source Ground [Landsat |Air 
survey image |photo 
Year 2003 1989 1969 
Geog. area (ha) 7000| 8404; 8373 
Arable land (ha) 5748| 3516 1092 
Wood/grassland 
(ha) 2440 5574 7677 
% Arable land 82 42 13 
% Wood/grassland 35 66 92 
  
  
  
  
  
  
Impacts of Land use cover change 
As land use changes from forest to rural built-up 
lands, urban lands and subsistence agriculture, surface 
runoff increases while surface and groundwater 
quantity and quality deteriorates. The effect is 
manifested in reduced natural recharge, reduced 
stream flow and elimination of wet lands. Currently, 
there is a steady recognition that surface and 
groundwater sources are declining. River Njoro no 
longer flows throughout the year. Boreholes are drying 
up, especially at Egerton University where 4 out of 11 
have dried up. Reduction in the water quantity in Lake 
Nakuru has been blamed on deforestation in the Mau 
range which is the source of rivers Njoro and Lamriak, 
the main rivers flowing in the lake. Agriculture has 
moved up the slopes and in the riverine areas as shown 
in figure 7. There is no forced fallow any longer even 
as land loses fertility. The practice of continuous 
cultivation is impoverishing the soils. Sheet and rill 
erosion is observed when it rains and gullies are 
beginning to develop along some of the farm tracks. 
Deforestation and break down of the soil conservation 
structures which were established by the settler 
farmers has led to increased soil erosion and 
sedimentation of lake Nakuru. 
Conclusions 
The use of remotely sensed data showed that eastern 
Mau has had a significant change in land use cover 
over the last 40 years. The temporal images showed 
the pre-change and post-change cover types. The 
$b 
Segments 
26 29 30 31 34 42 
30a 34a 42a 42b 
BH 1989 (11969 
landsat image of 1973 clearly showed rich vegetation 
cover. Deforestation, land fragmentation, cultivation 
of wetlands and rapid increase in human settlements 
have had negative impacts on water sources resulting 
in reduced stream flows and water shortages. 
Groundwater sources continue to dwindle, 
necessitating the sinking of new and deeper wells and 
boreholes in places like Egerton University and farms 
around Njoro. Inadequate or lack of data on 
hydrology, meteorology, biodiversity and land use in 
eastern Mau inhibits proper development and 
management. The study showed that remotely sensed 
data can provide information for effective routine 
tasks related to environmental inventorying and 
monitoring. The results from manual interpretation 
closely matched those of supervised classification of 
the landsat image shown in figure 9. Since manual 
interpretation is cheaper, its use will go a long way in 
providing data for managing the Mau complex which 
is an important water tower in Kenya by remotely 
sensed data and hence enable sustainable development 
of resources in this part of Kenya. 
  
LEGEND NUT 
7X [Take Nakure Water 
calchment boundary 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Figure 3: The study area is shown in red line 
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