The Effect of Project Planning Practices on Sustainability of Drilled Community Water Point Projects in Lower Eastern Kenya

Abstract

The sustainable development goal number 6 provides a global effort for universal access to clean, equitable and affordable drinking water by the year 2030. There is uneven distribution of the water sources. In arid and semi-arid lands, people depend on rivers, streams, dams, springs and wells and boreholes to get water for both domestic and livestock use. Access to adequate and safe water for domestic use remains a perennial problem in Lower Eastern Kenya. To remedy the situation national government, county governments and NGOs resorted to drilling community water points. However, the drilling community water points become unsustainable in the long run by water drying up, stalling and even collapsing of the projects after the start. This study therefore sought to determine the effect of project planning practices on sustainability of drilled community water-point projects in Lower Eastern Kenya. The study employed a concurrent triangulation research design. The scope of the study was limited to drilled community water-point projects in the lower Eastern Kenya. The unit of observation was one water executive committee chairperson manning the drilled community water projects in the selected regions. Thus, the target population were 1,308 water executive committee chairpersons. The sample size as obtained using Yamane formula was 306 water executive committee chairpersons who were selected through stratified random sampling. Primary data was used in the study with the questionnaire as the main data collection instrument. The study also involved interviews on the three county chief officers in the departments of water and sanitation in the three counties. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 26. Data analyses involved descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics comprised means and standard deviation while inferential statistics comprised Pearson correlation analysis and simple regression model. Test of hypothesis was done at 95% confidence interval. From the results, project planning practices had positive and statistically significant relations with the sustainability of drilled water point projects. The study concluded that project planning practices are significant determinants of the sustainability of drilled community water point projects in the counties of Kitui, Machakos and Makueni. The study recommended that the project managers ought to incorporate project planning practices in any drilled community water point project they are undertaking. The practices enhance the success rate in project implementation. The project further recommended that the counties under study ought to formulate policies that ensures the strict adherence to the stipulated project planning practices.

Key Words: Project Planning Practices, Sustainability and Drilled Community Water-Point Projects.

DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/17-6-10

Publication date: July 30^th 2025