Over 40 billion tons of sand is mined worldwide every year which isestimated to be higher than the natural replacement rates. In Kenya, therate of sand mining is raising concerns over its environmental effects sinceit...Over 40 billion tons of sand is mined worldwide every year which isestimated to be higher than the natural replacement rates. In Kenya, therate of sand mining is raising concerns over its environmental effects sinceit is not regulated. This paper presents findings on the geomorphic effectsof sand mining in the ephemeral River Tyaa channel in Kitui County. Thestudy adopts the concept of feedback response mechanism of a naturalgeomorphic system. Through purposive sampling River Tyaa was selectedfor the study, where rampant sand mining was reportedly taking place.Random sampling on the five sand mining sites identified came up with arepresentative site namely Kanginga on which systematic sampling wasapplied while collecting data at both the active and control sites. Dataon channel width, depth and slope angles was obtained through physicalmeasurements while data on quantity of sand mined was obtained fromMwingi Sand Mining Cooperative. Multiple logistic regression analysiswas used to analyse data whereby the model compared active and controlsites. Test results indicated that sand mining had significantly increasedriver channel’s width (O.R. =1.531), depth (O.R. =1.527) and slope angles(O.R. =1.634) at active mining sites compared to control sites as deducedfrom the respective Odds Ratios. It concluded that sand mining had alteredchannel’s morphology resulting to adverse environmental effects such asloss of riparian vegetation and channel incision. It recommended curbingof illegal sand mining through licencing operators and reducing quantity ofsand mined by closing some mines. Furthers, it recommended monitoringthrough regular Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A) and Audit (E.A)to inform protection of the river system from degrading.展开更多
文摘Over 40 billion tons of sand is mined worldwide every year which isestimated to be higher than the natural replacement rates. In Kenya, therate of sand mining is raising concerns over its environmental effects sinceit is not regulated. This paper presents findings on the geomorphic effectsof sand mining in the ephemeral River Tyaa channel in Kitui County. Thestudy adopts the concept of feedback response mechanism of a naturalgeomorphic system. Through purposive sampling River Tyaa was selectedfor the study, where rampant sand mining was reportedly taking place.Random sampling on the five sand mining sites identified came up with arepresentative site namely Kanginga on which systematic sampling wasapplied while collecting data at both the active and control sites. Dataon channel width, depth and slope angles was obtained through physicalmeasurements while data on quantity of sand mined was obtained fromMwingi Sand Mining Cooperative. Multiple logistic regression analysiswas used to analyse data whereby the model compared active and controlsites. Test results indicated that sand mining had significantly increasedriver channel’s width (O.R. =1.531), depth (O.R. =1.527) and slope angles(O.R. =1.634) at active mining sites compared to control sites as deducedfrom the respective Odds Ratios. It concluded that sand mining had alteredchannel’s morphology resulting to adverse environmental effects such asloss of riparian vegetation and channel incision. It recommended curbingof illegal sand mining through licencing operators and reducing quantity ofsand mined by closing some mines. Furthers, it recommended monitoringthrough regular Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A) and Audit (E.A)to inform protection of the river system from degrading.
