Opinion: Water shortages need permanent solution

Water taps photo:courtesy

Most water taps in Nairobi estates are set to remain dry a little bit longer until the expected short rains in October raise water levels in dams that serve Nairobi and its outskirts.

Insufficient rains during the recent long rain season meant that the Ndakaini dam, suffering from a shortfall of 24 per cent water volume, could only be raised by 15 per cent yet this is the dam that supplies 84 per cent of the water needs of Nairobi residents.

It is easy to blame poor rainfall for the water problem in Nairobi but discounting the ineptitude of the county government would be dishonest. Poor city planning in part accounts for the perennial water shortage experienced in Nairobi.

But the problem is not just limited to that for, while residents encounter shortages, it recently emerged that some officials from the Nairobi City Water and Sewage Company create artificial shortages to give their side water bowser ventures a boost. Corruption, it would seem, permeates every single stratum of society.

Harvesting rain water and facilitating city residents to do the same would go a long way in addressing water shortage not just in Nairobi, but other urban centres across the country where populations increase daily due to rural-urban migration.

The water scarcity problem cannot be taken lightly any more and county governments should be at the forefront seeking solutions.