Water is a rare commodity for residents neighbouring the Masinga dam along the Tana basin yet it is here that 80 per cent of Nairobi's drinking water comes from.Beth Soyiambua Kinyanjui, 46, lives a few kilometres from the man-made dam that produces most of the hydroelectric power used in many parts of the country yet she gets water from sand dams. “Water is a problem here and even though Masinga dam is within our reach, we have to tread carefully or risk being mauled by crocodiles or hippos.
Women and children have fallen victim to these wild animals. When we have to fetch water, we either go as a group or if alone, a woman has to be accompanied by her husband and it is more risky to send children,” said the mother of eight. A sand dam financed by the United Nations Environmental Programme is however providing an alternative source of water to locals from Kabiti village. “We were used to fetching water from earth dams but though they have dried up, the sand dam helps ease the burden of walking for many hours in search of drinking water. It also reduces conflict with the animals,” said Soyiambua as she tries to scoop sand in search of water to no avail.
Plans are underway to construct three more sand dams in one of Tana River tributaries, and Soyiambua, a smallholder farmer, said this could support her in starting up a vegetable garden or even grow French beans for export in future. “Ironically, we are thirsty people irrespective of the huge water resources. There is poverty in the midst of plenty and what we need is not relief food but water from the dam brought to the community so that we can produce our own food,” said Isaac Muinde, Ekalakala ward, Machakos County. “Stakeholders could develop water supply schemes to have an alternative that can decrease human-wildlife conflict. Besides, there is also a lot of siltation in Masinga dam and if no action is taken, this could threaten existence of the water source,” he lamented.
According to the United Nations, Kenya is a chronically water scarce country where only less than a third of the country's residents have access to clean water. However, the country has the water supplies it needs to meet demand but management of water is compromised due to illegal extraction and land use practices that result in runoff not recharge. In addition, water quality is compromised as few agricultural and pastoral land use measures are in place to keep pollutants out of lakes, reservoirs and rivers.
The Tana Delta is home to several endangered species including the Tana red colobus and Tana River mangabey. The habitat also supports over 22 species of birds, 40 species of fish as well as providing nesting sites for marine turtles. According to Unep, the river basin is currently facing several environmental challenges especially deforestation in the upper catchment which is adversely affecting the quality and quantity of water. Poor farming practices have also led to soil erosion, pollution of the rivers by agrochemicals and hence siltation of the dams.
Fred Kihara, water engineer from The National Conservancy, said demand for water is high due to increasing population especially in the upper parts of the basin, where rain-fed agriculture is practised on 21 per cent of the total land area. “The various land use practices within the basin have led to increasing demand for water resources and thus to an increase in conflicts in water utilisation due to competing interests. This therefore calls for ready funds to run these conservation projects,” he said.
To address these issues, organisations brought together by the Water Resources Management Authority plan to establish the Tana Basin Coordination and Information Platform. The organisations which are involved in the management of Tana River basin aim to focus on combining expertise and identify priority issues for ensuring the health and productivity of the Tana River ecosystem.
Water minister Charity Ngilu said it is important that all stakeholders working to conserve the Tana ecosystem profile their activities under the Water Resources Management Authority for easier co-ordination and communication of the existing projects. “As envisaged in the 2030 National Water Master Plan 2030, the national resolve to empower and strengthen WRMA to undertake its mandate is very clear. The journey towards prosperity for the basin starts at this juncture and has to involve all of you and your support,” said Ngilu in a statement read during a Tana Basin management consultative meeting held in Nyeri.
Jacqueline Alder, head of Unep's freshwater and marine ecosystems branch, said this new platform offers an important opportunity to streamline efforts in supporting the sustainable development of the Tana River ecosystem. “This will be addressed in a way that meets the needs of local communities while ensuring that the future generations will also benefit from its rich resources and from the services of this valuable ecosystem,” she said. “From fisheries and grazing land, to biodiversity and renewable energy, the economic and environmental importance of the Tana River to the communities that border it and to Kenya cannot be underestimated.”
The Tana Basin covers an area of 126, 026 square kilometers, equivalent to 20 per cent of the country’s land area, and is the second largest basin in Kenya after the Ewaso Ngi’ro. A baseline study by WRMA shows that the giant Masinga Dam in the central region of the basin has lost about 10.1 per cent of its capacity over the last 29 years.
To protect this natural capital, The National Conservancy, a global conservation organisation, plans to establish water fund projects that will ensure provision of water quality and quantity benefits to both up and down stream water users in the critical Upper Tana River basin. This, according to Colin Apse, will be done in collaboration with Nairobi Water and Sewage Company, KenGen and other large water users to develop a sustainable financing model for management programmes that benefit conservation and business interest.