Posted on :Tuesday , 1st October 2024

The Nakuru County administration has started a water project worth Sh52 million that would supply at least 6,000 homes in the Visoi ward of the Rongai Sub-County with clean, dependable water.

Inaugurating the Umoja Water Project, which was jointly funded by the County Government and World Vision, Governor Susan Kihika announced that comparable projects were being started in sub-counties to ensure that people had access to clean water.

While acknowledging that other groups in the Sub-County, such as water user groups and local institutions and organizations responsible for providing water services, would also benefit from the water project in addition to having their capacity and efficiency enhanced, the Governor regretted that Rongai residents, who primarily depended on seasonal rivers, were the most affected by water scarcity in the County.

The Governor outlined the steps involved in restoring the project, which was presently providing clean and dependable water to over 12,500 people in seven villages, including Lusaka, Umoja, and Tumaini. These steps included drilling three boreholes, solarizing, building elevated steel tanks, and installing automated water kiosks to supply homes, businesses, and medical facilities with clean, dependable water.

The head of the County claims that the devolved unit has invested over Sh800 million in the development and maintenance of water supply infrastructure. Across the 11 sub-counties, more than 70% of the water projects have been finished and put into service, and a few more are almost finished.

She revealed that the Sh15 million Morop dam water project, which was expected to supply water to over 50 communal water points, 7 secondary schools, 12 primary schools, dispensaries, and Kabarak University—all of which have long suffered from a persistent water shortage—was also expected to benefit more than 100,000 families living in the Bahati, Rongai, and Subukia sub-counties.

The Governor referenced Nakuru Water and Sanitation Services Company (Nawassco), which she claimed has a capacity of producing 45,000 cubic meters of water daily against a demand of 70,000 cubic meters, in saying that the move to find long- and short-term solutions for the county's water shortage would contribute towards sustainable development.

She continued by saying that the County required to make significant investments by digging boreholes, building dams, and sharing water resources with neighboring counties in order to close the deficit in Nakuru City and the other ten sub-counties.