Over the past weeks, the water levels in our rivers from Mt. Kenya have significantly dropped, affecting the river flow.
This is caused by the on-going dry season which is likely to trigger water use conflicts between the upstream and the downstream users. In response to this, Likii River Water Users Association, which is mandated to ensure that water resource is shared in an equitable manner and to solve water use conflicts, has taken the necessary actions to address the situation.
Scouts have been deployed to assist in river flow monitoring and to enforce water rationing.
Direct river abstractions for irrigation purposes are a major concern. A total of 68 portable pump owners were identified during a recent abstraction survey conducted in the month of April 2021. All these abstractors are a great threat towards maintaining the environmental flow.
These individual portable pump owners account for 41% of the total volume of 45,264 m3/day being abstracted daily from Likii River.
The need to engage these pump owners and organize them is a top priority for Likii WRUA. Their aim to aim to control the direct abstractions taking place in middle and lower streams of the Likii River sub-catchment. The majority of these pump owners are illegal abstractors; they lack water permits.
Likii Wrua is working closely with the river scouts, WRA, and the police, to flush out such abstractions in order to ensure that their River water flows all the way to the confluence with the Nanyuki River.
In addition to these efforts, upstream users are also being sensitized about the necessity (under law) for environmental flows – the minimal amount of water that must be left to flow in the river flow during the dry season.
Likii River has the potential to adequately supply its users only when the users strictly follow the rules issued during the dry season: NO abstraction for irrigation purposes is allowed.
Our joint efforts are required to save our rivers and our downstream communities.
We therefore continue to appeal to our members to be on high alert and communicate to the wrua office on any non-adherence to the rules issued. Our members are also encouraged to strictly adhere to the permit conditions and follow the rationing program. This will play a key role in reducing the water use conflicts as we all share the resource equitably.
Story By Likii WRUA with the support of the
