Civil Engineering Case Study 2022

CIVIL ENGINEERING
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INTRODUCTION
Freshwater is regarded as a scarce resource. In fact only 2.5% of the entire volume of water on
earth is fresh water. The largest portion of this fresh water is found underground. There are
several factors which have led to the demand for fresh water. Some of these factors include
population growth, pollution of water as well as progresses in the technology. It is important to
note that the increase in the efficiency of water us does not necessarily to the reduced
consumption. Together with the changes in the land use, it becomes a complex situation which is
affected by both human activities and other natural processes (Yang, Grossmann and Manno
2014). Other than variations of the elements of the climate among other factors, majority of the
factors listed above are executed to undergo significant changes in the future. The freshwater
availability is yet to be rendered very uncertain. The resources of water are therefore
indisputably declining at a faster rate around the world.
Projected population change and its impacts (rural-urban influence)
The demand for the supply of world’s scarce water is generally increasing rapidly, thereby
challenging the availability of this unique resource for the production of food. The food global
security is thus put at risk. In such cases, agriculture which has been supporting the majority of
the world population has been compelled circumstantially to compete with the domestic,
environmental and domestic uses of scarce water supply (Marlow et al.2013). As the population
growth increases as well as the need to increase agricultural production, the world’s demand for
water resources has led to the increased concern about water use efficiency. The population of
the world is expected to increase by more than 10% come 2050. In fact the current projections

have indicated that the population of the world will increase from almost 6.9 to 9.1 billion by
2050.
This will be translated into the increased food demands with the diversified diets. The demands
of food as well as production are also projected to increase by almost 70% in the world and by
100% in some places of the world. Lamu is a small coastal town in Kenya. It is expected to have
a steady increase in the population till the year 2050. This is due to its strategic location which
has been considered conducive for the human settlements and industrialization (Vidic et
al.2013).
Urbanization which is a consequence of the population increase will take full effect,. There will
be increased share of the population of the nation which is living in the urban areas hence
leading to the decrease in the share of those living in the rural areas. In this regard, it will be
regarded as one of the most extreme forms of human-induced changes in the land use. Due to the
processes of urbanization, there will be increased pressure on the freshwater sources as people
become more concentrated in one specific area. This implies that the processes of construction
will be considered secondary whenever there will be shortage of water supply in such areas.
Urban uses of water currently account for an average use of water between 10% and 20% of the
total withdrawals of water in the developing basins o the developing world particularly in Africa.
As a result of the increasing population growth in urban areas, the demand has been on the
increase. Some of the problems faced by engineers as a result of water shortage include health,
time wastage in search of water, work load, displacement, loss of control over knowledge and the
resources and finally limited economic opportunities (Srinivasan et al.2013).

A part from growth in the population, the demand for water is expected to be affected by the
development in the economy as well as projected changes in the use of water as for the case of
the urban areas. This is the primary concern to most of the construction companies that are found
in such areas. Some of the special reports which have been released indicate that changes in the
urbanization processes and growth of the megacities will definitely influence the supply of water
engineering activities and recommends research for other alternative sources.
Climate Change
The resources of freshwater are susceptible to the projected changes in the climate. In case the
observed changes in climate s per the last decade will be anything to go by, the situation will be
expected to be worse come 2050. Freshwater sources which are targeted for various activities of
engineering are very susceptible to the projected changes in the climate. As a result of the
projected changes, there is likelihood of increase in the magnitude, severity and diversity of the
impacts climate change on water availability. Studies have clearly indicated that there is an
increase in the demand for water across the globe and Lamu is not exceptional in this case.
Competing Land Use
It is expected that land use will continue changing in Lamu. Despite the fact that land was
initially known for the agricultural purposes, other economic activities will be expected to take
over or rather compete favorably with other forms of land use. The changes in the land use as
well as diversions of water to meet some of the engineering operations like the construction of
the dams have been considered as the main drivers of land degradation as well as loss of
ecosystem. Agricultural engineering has been advocating for the greater food production in effort
to address the shortage of food in the famine prone areas. This has been done at the expense of

the ecosystem services and biodiversity which despite their absence remain significant to the
livelihoods of people.
Land use pressure in Lamu is attributed to the increasing population densities. Such impacts have
led to logging, cases of forest fires, extensive cattle grazing and finally cultivation all of which
are responsible for the much tropical deforestations (Reddy and Gunasekar 2013). In the
traditional days, there had been exploitation of the resources naturally in Lamu for socio-
economic benefits. However, unsuitable exploitation of the eco-system which is self-regulating
has resulted into gradual loss of the provided services. It is expected that this will result into the
changes in the structure, numbers and composition of the biodiversity. For instance the
agricultural land expansion to favor either agricultural activities or engineering constructions will
ultimately lead to the destruction of habitat, interference with the water catchment, decline in
faunal and floral species, interference with the breeding and nesting grounds of birds hence
lading to the deterioration of the services which people depend on.
In order to manage the demands of the environment effectively, the land policies is expected to
work hand in hand in making the availability of water a priority. The anticipated destruction on
the ecosystem ill translates automatically to the shortage of construction materials. In order to
remain competitive and relevant to the demands of the society, engineers will be expected to be
as creative or as innovative as possible. Instead of using natural materials in various aspects of
the construction, polymers and other synthetic products which can serve the same purpose will
be preferred (Tong and Elimelech 2016). Additionally, acknowledgement of the informal
institutions as well as customary laws will facilitate and partly contribute to the management of
the natural resources and water locally. Fitting in such systems will require engineers to embrace

only activities which conserve the existing resources and advocates for the regeneration
processes for example afforestation and preplanning of the urban centres.
Agricultural Imperatives
Research work has shown that agriculture utilizes almost 70% of the available freshwater of the
world. Areas like Lamu which had been chosen for the study have been experiencing higher
demands for the same commodity and it has been found that almost 90% of freshwater are used
in the facilitation of the construction and agricultural activities (Suhag 2016). Agriculture has
been successful highly in capturing the world’s freshwater bulk although the level of
accountability has been very low. It is such moves that crated a lot of pressure on the supplies of
water especially in the regions perceived to be arid.
Power Supply Imperatives
The production of electricity purely relies on the water availability in the case of HEP. Any
shortage of water will definitely affect the availability or production through this means.
Increase in the Work Load
The sanitary disposal of human wastes as well as supply of clean drinking water is very
important for to human health. Lacks of water supplies which are convenient tend to put a lot of
stress on the families in most of the continent of Africa (Kumpel and Nelson 2013). This
particular problem affects the engineering projects like construction which requires a lot of
water. Engineers rely on workers to source water at some considerable amount of fee. Women
comprise of over seventy three percent of agricultural labour but have demonstrated their limited
access to water resources and land. Water allocations are usually proportional to holding of land.