WRAP Regional Water Resources Studies, Kenya (1981–1990)

Harry Rolf, October 2026 · harryrolf@samsamwater.com

The Water Resources Assessment and Planning (WRAP) project was a joint effort between Kenya’s Ministry of Water Development (now the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation) and the TNO-DGV Institute of Applied Geoscience in the Netherlands (now GDN, the Geological Survey of the Netherlands, part of TNO). The project ran from 1981 to 1991 and was funded by the Dutch Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS).

Water Resources Assessment (WRA) studies were carried out in nine Kenyan districts (now counties). The WRA reports are still a key data source for water professionals working in Kenya. They contain a wealth of original data on the quantity and quality of groundwater and surface water, compiled, checked and mapped in a single set of documents.

The surface water fieldwork included rehabilitating rain gauges, installing additional evaporation pans, stream gauging, a water permit survey, and water sampling for chemical analysis. The groundwater fieldwork included geological analysis (remote sensing and ground surveys), geophysical surveys, water level monitoring, and water sampling.

For some districts, the project also produced District Water Development Plans (DWDP). These plans are interesting, but less relevant today than the WRA reports.

Map of Kenya showing the districts covered by the WRAP regional assessment studies, 1981–1990
Districts covered by the WRAP regional assessment studies, 1981–1990. View large

Areas covered

WRAP-1 and WRAP-2 (1981–1987): Water Resources Assessment studies

  1. 1Kiambu, Ndeiya and Karai
  2. 2Kerio Valley
  3. 3West Pokot
  4. 4Laikipia
  5. 5Baringo

WRAP-3 (1987–1990): WRA studies with District Water Development Plans

  1. 6Samburu
  2. 7Isiolo
  3. 8Meru

Reconnaissance studies

  1. 9Machakos
  2. 10Lamu

Additional report

  1. 11South Nyanza, geophysical survey commissioned by DHV Consulting Engineers (1984)

WRAP-4 (1991 onwards)

After 1991, the project continued as WRAP-4, carried out by DHV (now Haskoning). The phase IV proposal (Water Resources Assessment and Planning Phase IV, project proposal, Nairobi, April 1990) planned further WRA and DWDP studies for Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River and Kajiado. So far, we have not found any reports from this phase.

Some reports are still missing, including all WRAP-4 reports. If you have copies of any missing reports, please get in touch.

About these copies

Copies of the WRAP reports have become hard to find, so we have made them available online.

Some of the reports come from the archives of the GDN-TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands. We are very grateful to TNO for preserving these valuable reports for so many years and for making them available.

Complete sets of reports for Kerio Valley, Laikipia, Baringo and West Pokot came from my former colleague Slávek Vasak. Sadly, Slávek passed away in May 2026. He was a wonderful person and one of the best Dutch geologists, and he had the foresight to keep these reports in his home library. PWN drinking water company kindly digitized them. Many thanks to PWN.

Reports and maps

Click a link to open a report (PDF) or scanned map (JPG). Some reports are over 100 MB. Use the Google Earth buttons for georeferenced maps (.kmz).

Kiambu

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Ndeiya and Karai locations

Kerio Valley

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Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo districts

West Pokot

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Laikipia

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Baringo

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Samburu

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Water Resources Assessment study

District Water Development study

Isiolo

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Water Resources Assessment study

District Water Development study

Meru

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Water Resources Assessment study

District Water Development study

Machakos

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Reconnaissance study

  • MissingWater Resources Reconnaissance Study in Machakos District. TNO IS-86-002Not yet available

Lamu

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Reconnaissance study

South Nyanza

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Geophysical survey


Topographic maps of Kenya can be found here.
Geological maps of Kenya can be found here.