Application of GIS Technologies in Optimal Routes Modelling of Water Utilities to Spur Development

Mumoni District lies in the semi-arid zone and the erratic and unreliable rainfall has worsened the situations. The women and girls walk an average distance of 10-15 km in search of water. Lack of adequate access to basic education and also poor performance in schools is eminent. Global demand for water is projected to grow rapidly, in the developing countries, higher to a tune of 93%. The objectives of this study was to carry out assessment and develop optimal route model of water utilities to spur development in Mumoni District, Kitui County in Kenya. in line with the Kenya vision 2030 i. e. to become a middle income country will be accelerated by working towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) to reduce poverty, improve literacy, adequate access to basic needs and improved maternal health. The study employed the GIS and Remote sensing technologies to develop a geodatabase, assessment of the water utilities and modeling of the optimal routes (water networks) connecting all the schools. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method was used to generate judgment matrix based on the opinions of experts? opinion which were used in weighted overlay using ArcGIS software. A cost surface raster layer was generated by combining (weighted overlay) the various datasets which was then used to model the optimal routes (least cost path) by setting the reservoirs (existing water tanks) as the source layer and the schools locations as the destination layer. From the research, it was established that the existing water line serves the lower region only and the storage tanks are located approximately over 10km apart. Finally, this research has established that AHP and GIS technologies are more convenient and cost effective tools in modeling optimal routes, further it can be used in efficient and effective management of water supply systems.