Dutch govt to fund impact study on Sh35b Malewa dam

A boat operator passes next to one of the flooded greenhouses near Lake Naivasha whose water levels have risen sharply in the last one year. Experts have warned that the construction of Malewa Dam will lead to the death of the lake. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

The Dutch government has proposed to fund a scientific study to establish the impact of the Sh35 billion Malewa dam on Lake Naivasha, while hoping to bring to an end the protracted dispute between stakeholders and government agencies on the project funded by the World Bank.

In the dispute, the Government insists that construction of the dam would go on as planned in Nyandarua County, while a group of stakeholders which includes flower farms located around the lake claim the project would be a death knell for the water body. Stakeholders have on several occasions called for an independent environmental audit, which the Dutch Embassy in Kenya is now proposing to fund.

At a stakeholders meeting held in Naivasha this week, the Dutch Ambassador to Kenya Maarten Brouwer met environmentalists, county and national officials separately, where it emerged that there was need to supply the three towns with chloride-free water, but not at the expense of the lake that is the mainstay of the flower farms.

While welcoming the move to fund an impact study, chairman of Lake Naivasha Water Resource Users Association, Enock Ole Kiminta, admitted that lack of scientific data had led to the current impasse. 

“We have held a consultative meeting with the Dutch Ambassador over our concerns and he says that they are ready to sponsor a study on the effects of the dam,” Kiminta said.

Earlier, the Central Rift Valley Water Works Development Agency assured flower farmers that the lake was safe, and would benefit from the controversial dam. 

According to Hosea Wendot, the agency chief executive officer, fears expressed by the stakeholders were unfounded as a feasibility study had established it would not have any negative effects on the lake. 

A report dubbed Lake Naivasha Fact Sheet however projects that the lake could be extinct by 2031 if no proper planning is done.

According to Abel Omanga, the lead consultant, the lake is under pressure from various quarters.