Parts of Nairobi County that are supplied with water from Ndakaini will experience water shortages following low levels of water at the reservoir.
Murang’a County Director of Meteorology Paul Murage stated that the ongoing short rains are below average and expressed worries that the Ndakaini dam may not achieve full capacity by the end of the season.
Following the low water volume residents in the city will experience water rationing in areas that are served by the dam as early as next year.
The management further disclosed that the water capacity in the dam is currently at 69 per cent which is a low count and cannot sustain full water supply to Nairobi and other areas that rely on it.
In Murang'a County, the upper zones usually receive a lot of rain but this season the zones have recorded less than 30 millimetres of rainfall.
“Meteorological department earlier predicted below average and poorly distributed rainfall during this season. The ongoing rains are expected to reduce before December 25 and we fear the dam may not get filled,” Murage explained.
“People should embrace harvesting of rainwater. Before Christmas, some parts of the country will continue to have rains and it’s my appeal for people to harvest water and store it for the future.
"January and February will be dry months and only a few places will have light showers thus scarcity of water in many parts of the country,” he added.
Murage further called on Kenyans who depend on the dam to store as much water as they can during these short rains warning that the situation will be difficult in January and February 2022.
“Water levels in many of the rivers in the county have remained low. This may worsen in January and February when there will be no rains. Residents need to plan well now especially on issues like fodder as there will be the scarcity of pasture in the early months of next year,” the Murang’a County Director of Meteorology stated.
Water shortages in Nairobi are common and earlier this year on May 7, residents of some estates including Lavington, Kileleshwa and Kilimani, received text messages from the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company alerting them of a water supply interruption.
Since then, their taps were dry for four months, despite the message having indicated that the interruption would be very brief. Tenants were forced to buy water from water bowsers who turned the crisis into a cash cow. In some estates within the city, 20 litres of water go for between Ksh20-50.
