Ensure cities have water all year round

Authorities cannot run away from taking some responsibility for the biting water shortage across the capital city. With latest reports indicating that rationing will continue until September, consumers have become frustrated with the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company. The firm says the low level of precipitation is to blame for the diminished volumes at the Ndakaini Dam.

However, it is clear that because of operational inefficiencies and poor planning, Nairobi’s four million residents will have to continue harvesting and storing rain water for their daily needs. The dam supplies 84 per cent of the water used in the capital city, but since January, Nairobi residents have had to grapple with little or no water after the short rains failed in December. In cities where the management of water is well organised, residents do not have to rely on rains to get supplies.