Why Elgeyo Marakwet's Water Towers Matter Downstream

2 February 2026

Every 2 February, World Wetlands Day turns attention to the rivers, swamps and springs that keep landscapes and livelihoods alive. In Elgeyo Marakwet, that story begins high above the valley floor, in two forest water towers most people downstream will never see.

Elgeyo Marakwet carries the second-largest forest cover of any county in Kenya, and almost all of it sits inside two blocks: the Cherangany Hills in the north, and the forests of the Elgeyo Hills, the escarpment that runs the length of the county and gives it its name. Together they form the water divide that decides where every drop of rain in the county ends up.

One ridge, two river systems

East of the escarpment, rain gathers into the Kerio catchment, feeding the Kerio River and its tributaries, Kerrer, Torok, Chesegon, Embobut, Embomon, Arror, Mong and Kimwarer, down through the Kerio Valley toward Lake Turkana. These same rivers hold real potential for irrigation and hydro-power, and their seasonal wetlands support grazing and farming across the valley floor.

West of the escarpment, a different set of rivers, Moiben, Chepkaitit and Sabor, drains instead into the Lake Victoria basin. Two coastlines, two countries' worth of downstream users, and both depend on the same forested ridge to hold water back long enough to release it slowly rather than all at once.

Water towers and rivers at a glance

River / stream

Basin

Feeds toward

Kerio

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Kerrer

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Torok

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Chesegon

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Embobut

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Embomon

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Arror

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Mong

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Kimwarer

Kerio catchment

Lake Turkana

Moiben

Lake Victoria basin

Lake Victoria

Chepkaitit

Lake Victoria basin

Lake Victoria

Sabor

Lake Victoria basin

Lake Victoria

Why this matters beyond the county line

Wetlands and rivers rarely respect administrative boundaries, and Elgeyo Marakwet's do not either. What happens on the slopes of the Cherangany Hills and the Elgeyo Escarpment, whether forest cover holds or degrades, decides how much water reaches farms, wetlands and hydro-power potential in the Kerio Valley, and how steadily rivers feed the Lake Victoria basin on the other side of the ridge. Protecting these two water towers is, in a very literal sense, downstream protection for two entirely different drainage systems at once.

This is the case SKWT makes on World Wetlands Day: that community stewardship on a single forested ridge in Elgeyo Marakwet carries consequences for river systems, wetlands and communities far beyond it.