The National Irrigation Authority is set to change the Bura irrigation scheme canal system, to a gravity system at a cost of Sh7.5 billion.
Bura currently uses a canal system to irrigate part of the 25,000 acres owned by NIA, the change in Korakora will be more cost effective and cover a wider area.
The chief engineer planning and design at NIA Loice Kahiga on Thursday said the current abstraction of 2.7-meter cube per second with the pumps have enabled them to cover 9,800 acres out of the 25,000 acres.
She was speaking at Nanighi Bura pumping station which pumps water to Bura Irrigation scheme, she said so far, the country has a storage of 30 million cubic meters of water.
Kahiga said currently the canal system is able to pump water up to 50 kilometres but with the new system it will reach 72 kilometres and cover all the 25,000 acres.
“Currently we use a lot of diesel which is costly for the project, per month we spend Sh3.5 million for pumping and maintenance of the installed infrastructure,” she said.
The gravity system, she said would reduce the operational costs per month to a very low cost as they will be left with only infrastructure maintenance.
The Bura irrigation scheme was established in 1978 and abstracts water from River Tana through the pumping station at Nanighi. It is one of the oldest schemes in the country.
In the last few years, Kahiga said they have expanded the number of schemes by developing the Lower Kuja, while in Turkana they established the Kachilwe irrigation scheme which is performing well.
The National Irrigation Authority is implementing over 200 irrigation projects across the country under the expanded national irrigation program.
The program entails extraction and construction of reticulation system together with water storage systems by building water and earth dams for irrigation.
The chief engineer said since 2013 NIA has been able to rehabilitate 320 water pans and earth dams across the country out of the existing 4,120.
Kahiga said they normally harness the earth surface so that when it rains people can sustain themselves between 90 to 120 days after the rainfall.
The chief engineer said the program is going on, adding that the 320 rehabilitated water pans have enabled them to store 30 million cubic meters with a capacity of irrigating 15,000 acres.
She said they also have another program called household irrigation water storage program, which entails construction of water pans with a capacity of storing 1,000 cubic meters to 3,000 cubic meters at household level.
“This is to enhance individual households who benefit from the program.
"They will be able to grow something from a quarter an acre to an acre or even more, depending on the size of the water pan, so that they are able to have a daily production of food and hence consumption,” she said.
To date she said they have been able to do about 28,000 household irrigation water pans in 32 counties.
Kahiga said they have seven gazetted public irrigation schemes including Mwea, Ahero, Bura, Hola, Pakera in Baringo county and West canal.
“As the authority, we are mandated to continue maintaining and expanding those schemes, that has been a continuous process,” she said.
She said they ensure that water pumped for irrigation has less siltation and makes sure sedimentation bases are well set up.
Yusuf Osman a resident of Bura said they thank the government for developing the irrigation project as it has helped locals do farming within and outside the scheme along the canals.
Osman said the project has benefitted many people both pastoralists and farmers who even do farming along the canals that pump water to the scheme.
“As residents of this area, we have seen the Bura Irrigation project benefitting many farmers from different areas who came here for farming.
"Farmers plant maize, rice, sukumawiki and many other crops,” he said.
Osman said many people do not go very far in search of food.
He added that even though it has not addressed famine fully, it has helped make a step towards ending hunger.
Wailuana community elder Said Ali said the Bura irrigation scheme has enabled them to move away from the river banks and establish homes in the mainland.
Before the project, he said people found it hard to stay upstream because of water that could only be accessed along the river.
“When the project was initiated, we witnessed establishments of new villages upstream as people now had access to water along the canals which is very far away from the river,’ he said.
Ali said the project has really helped address the problem of food insecurity and conflicts between farmers and pastoralists.
“Even the manager has given us a chance to do farming along the canal despite the fact that it is government land,” he said.
He added that the government should scrap the fees charged for water or reduce it so as to enable locals do more farming as the water helps even animals.
Area chief Mohamed Ramadhan said before the project there were cases of conflicts between pastoralists and farmers because both were scrambling to get water from the river, where farmers used to plant crops.
“Since the project started, we have seen livestock getting water upstream along the canals, unless there is drought the animals don’t go to the river,” he said.
Villages near the canal that have benefitted include Kakate, Darba, Nanigi, Matagala, Subo all which are within Nanighi location.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
