Kenyan capital in water rationing amid dry spell

Residents of the Kenyan capital Nairobi will experience water rationing until late March when the Long Rains are expected, executives of the city's water utility said on Tuesday.

Philip Gichuki, the Managing Director of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, said the rationing that will be conducted at intervals was occasioned by the escalating dry spell.

"In view of the declining water levels in our main reservoirs, we have decided to roll out a rationing program that will affect residential and industrial premises in Nairobi and its environs," Gichuki said in a statement.

He revealed that Ndakaini Dam that provides 80 percent of clean drinking water to Nairobi was operating below 50 percent due to suppressed Long and Short Rains in 2016.

Kenya's meteorological department and humanitarian agencies in early December warned of a looming dry spell that may disrupt water supply in cities and rural towns.

The Nairobi water utility currently supplies 546,000 cubic meters of water daily to its customers against a demand of 760,000 cubic meters.

Gichuki said rapid population growth in Nairobi and its satellite towns had exerted huge pressure on existing water sources.

He said the city water utility had partnered with multilateral donors to develop alternative water sources including boreholes and rainwater harvesting.

"The existing surface water sources cannot sustain a rising demand for the commodity in Nairobi hence the need to invest in underground water exploitation, waste water recycling and rainwater harvesting," Gichuki said. Endit