Kisumu water firm blames hyacinth invasion for shortage

People who have traveled from as far as twenty kilometers fetch water at a water hyacinth covered Lake Victoria at Wagusu beach in Siaya county on January 10,2017. Many areas that are not next to any water source in Rarieda, Ugunja suffer as drought continues making many bodaboda riders venture into water vending business. A 20 liter jerrican of lake water retails at sh 50 depending on the distance from the source. (Photo: Denish Ochieng/ Standard)

The Kisumu Water and Sewerage Company (KIWASCO) has blamed the current water shortage in the lakeside city on the hyacinth invasion.

The water supplier is calling on other stakeholders to intervene. KIWASCO Managing Director David Onyango yesterday said the firm could do little to control the weed that has covered the lake's Winam Gulf, the company's main water abstraction point.

 He complained that the weed had affected the entire region's economy.