“Towards up-scaling the gains of the water sector reforms in the new dispensation”

Last Updated 13 years ago by Kenya Engineer

The Ministry of Water is holding a two day conference and exhibition at the Safari Park Hotel. The conference which ends tomorrow is themed ‘Towards up-scaling the gains of the water sector reforms in the new dispensation’.

The conference which is the 7th annual water sector conference will deliberate on water sector reforms and other issues in regard to the country’s water and irrigation.

“At the end of the conference, it is expected that the stakeholders will collectively identify priority areas to drive the sector forward”, said the Minister for Water and Irrigation, Charity Ngilu in a statement.

Investment in the sector has in the last five years grown to over Ksh60 billion. In working towards achieving equitable water services provision, more than 4.2 million people have been reached. On irrigation sub-sector, the area under irrigation has been expanded by 450 hectares. On land reclamation, a total of 2,490 water conservation and water harvesting structures have been constructed.

The permanent secretary, David Stower highlighted that the construction of multi-purpose dams-Kiserian in Kajiado, Umaa dam in Kitui, Chemususu dam in Koibatek and Badasa in Marsabit- were ongoing.

Under the new constitution (schedule 4),the national government is to use international waters and water resources, develop pipelines, secure sufficient residue water, manage disasters, invest and build capacity to counties. The county governments are then to implement the national government’s policies on water conservation and provision of water and sanitation services.

The ministry developed a National Irrigation Policy 2012 and the national land reclamation policy 2012.By 2015,the ministry aims at ensuring that 8 million more people in the urban areas and 8 million in rural areas have access to water.