Why counties with enough water won’t need gold mines when new law comes into force

In the next 20 years, every village could be linked to the rest of the world by the thousands of kilometres of fibre-optic cables being laid out across the country.

The result could well be that village polytechnics, which have in the past been holding grounds for idle youth, could be transformed into digital hubs with the potential of transforming lives in the backwater villages.

Every street in the little towns mushrooming in the countryside will be lined with electricity posts as more lights are switched on in the areas on the fringes of development. In fact, it could also well be that the country would have arrived at the terminus of a newly-industrialised nation. But something will be missing from this postcard of success: clean, piped water supplied regularly.

With the clock ticking towards the 2015 deadline for achieving Millennium Development Goals and Vision 2030, there is hardly one area in Kenya that can proudly say it enjoys a steady supply of clean, piped water every day of the week. Even upmarket neighbourhoods like Muthaiga and Karen in Nairobi, I believe, have to endure some level of water rationing.

According to the latest population census figures, access to clean water remains elusive for 70 per cent of the population. As one Daily Nation sub-editor put it, “tap water is still a pipe dream” because the majority of families depend on wells as their main source of water.

Yet, part of the larger goal of both the Millennium Development Goals and Vision 2030 is to improve the public’s access to safe drinking water in the next five and 20 years, respectively. Up until now, rain has been the biggest source of water for urban households in Kenya.

The challenge arises when either the rains fail or they fall in inadequate amounts. Sometimes, it does, indeed rain cats and dogs, and the dams that hold the water burst, meaning that the surplus goes down the drain. Already, in areas like Nairobi, water rationing still persists and last week, the Meteorological Department warned that October and November could experience inadequate rainfall.

This means that the problem of water shortage could persist even in what is arguably the richest region of the country. And now, with the coming of county governments, areas like Nairobi could be in for a rude shock unless they can have reservoirs within their county boundaries.

As of now, Ndakaini Dam in Kiambu county and Sasumua in Nyandarua county are the city’s biggest suppliers of water. Once the implementation of the new Constitution begins in earnest, wananchi in these regions — which generally have no access to clean piped water — will begin to demand a redistribution of the water or that the commodity be sold to other counties at a higher premium.

Already, about 750,000 people in Nairobi do not have access to piped water, yet, in general terms, the capital is considered the most developed region of Kenya. What guarantees exist, then, to assure this section that their right to clean water as enshrined in the new Constitution will be respected if the city does not have its own water?

Repeated the rumour

I have heard it said — and believe that I have repeated the rumour here before — that in Israel, every new building is required by law to have a water harvesting system, be it in Jerusalem or Masada. And in Berlin, Germany, the local authority has devised a system of recycling water that ensures that its three million residents have access to clean, drinking water round the clock.

China too, has an elaborate water storage system which ensures that none of its one billion people ever goes thirsty. In fact, it has been said that building dams was the first major step that China took on the path to industrialisation. It could be argued that these are developed nations and have built their water infrastructure over a long time.

If that is the case, here in Kenya, those in positions of authority ought to be taking the steps that will eventually put piped water in every homestead and free the womenfolk from the burden of having to carry water on their backs so that they can engage in more meaningful and aesthetic undertakings, like travelling to Dubai or applying mascara.

Regional and national governments would be well-advised to protect and rehabilitate water-catchment areas to ensure that the natural sources of water do not dry up. From where I sit, I see that counties with surplus water will not need gold mines. They can either sell it or use it to transform their agriculture.