Water issues affect us all, from the women who spend hours a day fetching water to political battles over international rivers to melting icepack and rising sea levels. We are all downstream.
Worldwide, just under 900 million people lack reliable access to safe water that is free from disease and industrial waste. And 40 percent do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. The result is one of the world's greatest public health crises: 4,500 children die every day from waterborne diseases, more than from HIV-AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.
A robust economy depends on water. So does a thriving ecosystem. Enter politics, fulcrum of the water issue, weighing the fate of economies against the health of individuals and of the environment as a whole. Balance has been elusive. One fifth of the world's population lives in areas where water is physically scarce, and a quarter of the population faces shortages due to lack of infrastructure.- http://pulitzercenter.org
Wangari Mathai fought for Uhuru Park when most people wondered why a woman should stand firm and challenge the then President Mzee Moi who had his way in almost everything that either him or his cronies conceived. Thanks to her boldness and love for the environment, we now have Uhuru Park where a good number of visitors enjoy the fruits of her hard fight. We also have Karura Forest thanks to the boldness of this daughter of the soil who also founded a movement that planted over 47 Million trees worldwide according to ecology.com
Why the long story then? On Tuesday 06/03/2017, I took a cup
of water direct from a tap in my village homestead now that since childhood,
that was the norm and I do not remember any single day where we had to avoid
doing so not unless there was a Cholera outbreak. Soon after taking the water,
I had a terrible stomach ache that left me asking myself what could have gone
wrong only for my younger brother to tell me that this water is no longer safe
to drink. I fetched a second cup and looking through, I saw greenish* matter in
the water and this broke my heart. In this case, I will look at one reason why
we found ourselves here: Increase in the number of water projects that draw
water from River Rutui.
This is where the problem started: When growing up, we had
safe and clean water running from our taps but with treated water being
something of the past in many homesteads, many people formed groups that have
in return initiated water projects that have been a source of water for
domestic use and that for irrigation. This water is not treated as it flows
direct from the river to the homesteads. Wangari Maathai once said; we need to
promote development that does not destroy our environment. These golden words
may not be known to many people who came up with these projects or they simply
ignored the words. The reason why am
saying this is that there should have been some precautionary measures in place
to ensure that smooth flow of water is maintained in any season of the year.
Dry section of Rutui River.
Dry section of Rutui River.
River Rutui has been
on the receiving end as it hosts several projects that have in return resulted
to the drying up of some sections of the river to a point where some of the
projects are receiving water from tributaries that cannot deliver the water
volume that is needed to sustain these projects. In return, the river has been
blocked at the intakes to a point where people who used to benefit from the
smooth flow of the river are no longer beneficiaries of this natural resource. I spoke to some of these people and the reality is that they
are suffering from inside and if the current dry situation persists, we may see
such stakeholders get into conflict with such projects. Like the Late Wangari
Maathai said, I don’t know why I care so much but something from inside tells
me that there is a problem and I have to do something about this hence the
decision to do this blog. "I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves." —Harriet Tubman
Project funded by Federal Republic of Germany:
What we are seeing in the Arid and Semi-Arid areas may be
replicated here now that Rutui River may not sustain such projects and at the
same time flow downstream. Quarries have emerged where the river used to flow
downstream, waterfalls are no more, childhood swimming spots are no more and
the river can no longer support any aquatic life for now. I visited three project water intake points but I
was informed that there are other six intakes in a distance of approximately 10
Kilometres from the last one that I visited. The reality is that the river is
fast drying up and action must be taken.
See evidence here: Karia Irrigation Project Intake
I was informed that an order to cut down a certain tree
species that endanger the life of the river was issued and has been complied
with to some extent. Another order to see to it that individual projects draw
water from the river on certain days on alternative shifts has been ignored
hence all of them are running despite minimal water flow hence rendering the
projects in effective. In short, there is so much that needs to be done for the
present and future generations to continue benefiting from water resources
without endangering such resources.
This is another dry section of the river just after the intake.
After sharing my worries on my Facebook page, I established
that the same fate has befallen other rivers in Kirinyaga County. The sad thing
is that even at the foot of Mt Kenya, rivers are fast drying up, some Rice
fields are no more in Mwea, small scale irrigation projects are no more downstream
and am sure that there are other negative effects of mismanagement of this
valuable resource that I have not stated here.
We also have quarries now on the river banks where the no one could set foot as water volume was always high. See the photo below:
As this all happens Water Resources Management Authority
(WRMA) Mandate is as posted below:
The
Authority shall have the following powers and functions:—
- to develop principles, guidelines and procedures for the allocation of water resources;
- to monitor, and from time to time reassess, the national water resources management strategy;
- to receive and determine applications for permits for water use;
- to monitor and enforce conditions attached to permits for water use;
- to regulate and protect water resources quality from adverse impacts;
- to manage and protect water catchments;
- in accordance with guidelines in the national water resources management strategy, to determine charges to be imposed for the use of water from any water resource;
- to gather and maintain information on water resources and from time to time publish forecasts, projections and information on water resources;
- to liaise with other bodies for the better regulation and management of water resources;
- to advise the Minister concerning any matter in connection with water resources.
In
order for WRMA to undertake its stipulated responsibilities, the Act provides
for decentralized and stakeholder involvement. This will be implemented through
regional offices of the Authority based on drainage basins (catchment areas)
assisted by Catchment Area Advisory Committees (CAACs). At the grassroots
level, stakeholder engagement will be through Water Resource User Associations
(WRUAs).
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