By Juma Kwayera

It has emerged the current water crisis in urban settlements are due to archaic by-laws instituted by local authorities.

Experts say State and civic authority by-laws limit the capacity of potential investors in the sector to expand water provision.

With residents of Nairobi and other major towns forced to ‘scavenge’ for water, consumers are calling for less stiff regulations, some of which have been made redundant by urban population explosion.

The City Council of Nairobi has failed to expand water supply to match the rapidly increasing population. By-laws, carried over from the colonial administration, bar the drilling of boreholes.

Currently, residents depend on Ndakaini dam to supply 80 per cent of its water. But the dam is operating at about 30 per cent below its capacity. "The purpose of restricting the development of underground water was to supplement piped water as main revenue for local government authorities.

Circumstances have, however, proved over-reliance on rivers and dams is suicidal, and development and expansion of alternative sources a matter of life and death," says Mr George Okara, the Human Resource Manager at Mirage Fashion Wear factory in Athi River’s Export Processing Zones (EPZs).

Remote alternative

The EPZs, which depend on large supplies of water, are forced to scale down their operations.

Until Nairobi began experiencing acute shortages, borehole development was a remote alternative. Although bulk consumers such as beer and soft drink manufacturers have in the past applied for licences to sink their own boreholes, civic authorities decline to approve the request as it would deprive them of clients.

The folly of placing a premium on piped water became apparent when the Director of Water Resources in the Ministry of Water Development, Mr John Rao Nyaoro has appealed for the cooperation of private borehole owners in mitigating what appears a disaster in waiting.

The result is most settlements in Nairobi receive water once a week, making underground water a viable alternative.

Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) Quality Assurance Manager Jane Mumbi says the insistence on surface run-off is a major impediment to reliable water supply.

Archaic regulations

"Legally, all water sources belong to the State. To develop or use the resources depends on Government permission. However, the current situation has brought to the fore shortcomings of regulation as we resort to drilling boreholes to increase water supply as a short-term measure to alleviate crisis," Ms Mumbi says.

Last week, NWSC and Athi River Water Board organised a two-day consultative meeting with private borehole owners to petition them to supply water in their residential areas.

The two water firms estimate there are more than 3,000 boreholes in the city, most of which may not have been approved by the council as required by law, whose implementing agency is National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

Athi River Water Board Managing Director Kenneth Owuocha, while conceding boreholes are not adequate given the magnitude of the problem, says there is little water providers can do because of the stringent environmental benchmarks the law envisages.

"A borehole must be approved by Nema. In the case of Nairobi, rapid expansion of settlements slows the process of licensing boreholes," he says.

However, bureaucracy exacerbated by systemic graft in the civic authorities has turned what would have been a viable alternative water source into a nightmare. "The laws need to be reviewed and the Government should consider subsidising investments in the water resources just as India has done in its water-stressed state of Utah Pradesh. The Indian government has waived taxes on all water equipment in the semi-arid state, which has been transformed into an economically vibrant region," Okara says.

He proposes that besides waiving tax on water equipment, there should also be exemptions on storage facilities to ease dependence on surface water. "It is inconceivable that the cost of plastic tanks should be exorbitant. I own a 4,500-cubic litre tank that can supply water for domestic use for three months. If the tax were to be reduced, more people would own them easing the pressure on piped water," says Okara, who first came to Nairobi in 1967 when the city’s population was 300,000.

The population has ballooned to five million and it is expected to soar further as the momentum of urbanisation shows no signs of easing.

Stringent requirements

He argues development of underground water resources coupled with stringent requirements for new buildings in the city to incorporate water reservoirs in their plans would substantially reduce water woes. "It translates into river waters being used for other purposes such as irrigation and livestock keeping," says Okara.

Limuru MP Peter Mwathi, who agrees with the proposal to waive tax on water equipment, says the law requires all urban buildings in the country to have storage tanks for harvesting rainwater.

"Water subsidies are urgent and must be granted. However, non-enforcement of building laws has exposed us to the vagaries of nature. As we hurry to develop underground water, the risk of drying up aquifers are high," says Mwathi, in whose constituency boreholes are the main water source.