Climate

The Future of Water in Kisii County

Written by Nyachae Brian on December 19, 2022

Kisii County receives a fair amount of rainfall annually, however scenes of people scrambling for water are now common especially during dry seasons.

Recently, the Gusii Water and Sanitation Company (GWASCO) started rationing water and in the words of the then CEC Water, Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Dr Moiro Omari, “Over the past one year, we have not received adequate rainfall …with temperatures of 29.4 degrees, the highest in the past 30 years. Water springs are drying up affecting discharge in our main rivers.”

The director of Water and Sanitation Services Kisii County, engineer Elvis Masiga on rationing says the decision was taken due to increased demand for water in the municipality. “Rationing was there, because of the production capacity at Kegati which used to produce between three to four thousand meter cubic of water per day. This was not enough to sustain the ever increasing demand,” Explains Masiga.

Masiga however explains that since then the rationing has ceased after production of water was increased to about 14 million liters per day, though the county is yet to reach the optimum in terms of water supply

This is the new reality in a land traditionally proverbially compared to the Biblical Garden of Eden. Interior parts of the county are characterized by mini-forests of eucalyptus trees unfortunately planted in the banks of the now drying up river sources. Some of the trees are planted by affluent people who have bought huge parcels of land in the suburbs.

Former governor, James Ongwae ordered the cutting down of these trees from riparian land, however very few households complied. Environmental activists opine that the reason many Kisii residents are yet to adopt measures to conserve riparian land is due to the lack of alternatives and majority are planting the eucalyptus trees for economic gains.

Imoka widows, is a group of widowed women, most of them aged above 60 years, located in Gionsaria, Bobasi, Kisii County. They have leased land since 2013, where they have planted eucalyptus trees. “We decided to plant these trees because they mature very fast and we can sell them for money.” Explains Florence Ondoro, the secretary to the group.

Eucalyptus Trees planted by Imoka Widows. Photo/Nyachae Brian

Many streams in Kisii County dry up at the slightest strike of drought. Frank Okwoyo, a journalist and resident from Nyaribari Chache laments that the people from the region suffer a lot due to water scarcity during dry spells. Some of the springs in the area affected include, Nyanchwa springs, Giokanyo near Kisii School, Getiong’o in Irondi and Riamasese, to mention just but a few. “Most of these streams dry up because our people have planted blue gums alongside them,” laments Mr. Okwoyo.
PIPED WATER
A research that was done by Christopher Misati and Bisley Mokaya in 2017 on Challenges of water supply in Kisii Municipality cited poor water supply systems leading to leakages. https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=79147. Engineer Masiga explains that a bulk of the existing piping systems were installed in 1934 and 1986, and cannot sustain the pressure from the modern systems.

“These leakages come because of the design that was done for the water supply. There has been huge expansion especially from Kegati. Apart from the line going to Masongo and Suneka which were done in 1986, all the other systems were done in 1934 and we did not have the fiscal plan then. We have so many buildings which have come up, some pipes were put on people’s land and have been destroyed and because of the design period of the pipes, they are not able to hold the pressures coming from the current systems,” explains Masiga. According to Masiga the county government is gradually replacing the pipes.

Meteorological Department

Henry Maringo Sese who is the director of weather and Climate, Kisii and Nyamira agrees that many streams in Gusii dry up in the absence of rain. He says this is because people have destroyed the ecosystems by planting eucalyptus on wetlands.

“Most rivers have become seasonal. During heavy rain season like March, April and May, they flow with a lot of water. During dry seasons like January and February, the same rivers have diminished waters. The climate and weather trends have drastically changed due to global warming. This days we can have early on set or very late on set, and sometimes cessations can be early or very late,” Says Sese

He further explains that temperatures in Kisii are on the rising trend. This is evidenced by the infestation by mosquitoes and other unique insects like army worms, which used never to be seen in Kisii

He further warns that if the menace of planting eucalyptus trees on wetlands cannot be checked, Gusii region will experience serious water shortage in the coming days. According to him, there is need for people to be sensitized and be given alternative trees for planting that are environment friendly.
Water Harvesting

Eng Elvis Masiga, Director Water and Sanitation Services, Kisii County. Photo/Nyachae Brian

Kisii County is characterized with mostly 4 sided iron sheets roofed houses, which should make it easy for water harvesting during rainy seasons. However a lot of rain water goes to waste.

Engineer Masiga explains that now there is a policy in Kisii County where any house being built cannot be approved from the design level if it doesn’t have a roofing equipment for water harvesting. He also says that the county government annually supplies at least two 10,000 liters water tanks to various institutions in every ward to facilitate water harvesting during the rainy season.

Mr. Masiga confirms that many households are yet to be connected with metered water. This comes after recently the county government of Kisii was listed as one of the beneficiaries of the West Kenya Project, funded by the USAID.
“The USAID through the West Kenya Water Project will fund a program to ensure more households in Kisii are connected with water. We will work with all the 45 members of county assemblies to ensure all our people have access to water,” said Kisii County governor, Simba Arati

Majority of the environment experts in Kisii agree that the greatest threat in existence to availability of water is the menace of eucalyptus trees planted on riparian land. In the words of Samuel Nyangeso, former Kisii mayor and NEMA board member, “We must act now to save future generations from water scarcity. This should be a do or die business for each of us,”