Water shortage to ease in short rains season in Kenya

Water shortage in Nairobi city and its environs will soon be a thing of the past considering the October, November and December Rainfall Pattern.

According to a report by IGAD Center for Prediction and Application Center the rainfall in Kenya is expected to be above to below normal, indicating that Ndakaini dam water levels is set to increase.

Ndakaini Dam supplies 84 percent of the city’s water. Many residents have been getting water for a day or two in a week, but some especially in Eastland’s area of Nairobi say they get no water. They have to buy from vendors, who have taken advantage to hike the price.

Since January, the government-run Nairobi Water company has been distributing water piecemeal to more than 3 million residents.

In December, Ndaikini dam the source of 84% of Nairobi’s water was only 48 percent. Nairobi Water said the rations would ensure that the declining water stored in Ndakaini reached every resident.

The water company projected that by April, the levels in the dam would have risen to normal capacity, replenished by Kenya’s long rains, which traditionally begin in March and fall until May.

It was followed by prolonged by prolonged drought forcing President Uhuru Kenyatta to declare drought a national disaster.

According to Mohammed Ali a Hydrologist at ICPAC, the OND rains is expected to refurbish the Aberdare Forest and around Mount Kenya, the main water catchments for the Thika, Githika and Kayuyu rivers which feed into Ndakaini dam.

He says measures can be put in place such as rainwater harvesting from buildings and deliberate efforts to cause groundwater recharge.

Mohammed says the government need to factor in the human population pressure on the natural environment.

With the increase in population, natural resources are stretched. Currently, 220,000 households in Nairobi are supplied with water and the Nairobi Water Company pumps 550,000 cubic litres a day.

As the population and economy grows, that infrastructure is struggling. He says the most important route, they all say, is to care for the land and as for Nairobi resident they have to wait for the October, November and December rainfall with bated breath.

Source : Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) 

               By Brenda Jeptoo Kiprono