Nairobi and Mombasa residents should brace themselves for tough times over
more stringent water rationing and higher tariff.
Nairobi Water Company is contemplating implementing more stringent water rationing schedule after the water levels at the Ndakaini dam hit a new low while the Coast Water and Services Board (CWSB) plans to increase tariffs on fresh water.
Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Managing Director Philip Gichuki said the dam levels have dropped to a first time low of 25 per cent as high consumption continues.
Eng. Gichuki said residents faces a dire water crisis, with dam level having dipped below 25 percent already.
“The water rationing program in Nairobi County is expected to get even more stringent as Ndakaini Dam, which supplies most of Nairobi tap water, is only at 25 percent as compared to January when it was 48 percent full,”warned Eng Gichuki .
He says they will issue a new rationing schedule in two weeks once a review has been concluded.
CWSB has applied to the Water Services Regulatory Board for upward tariff review for bulk system and its agents for the period between 2017 to 2020.
The board proposes to increase the prices of water supplied to all water service providers in the six counties of the Coastal region by up to 100 per cent.
The tariff increase will affect Mombasa Water and Sanitation Company (MOWASCO), Taita-Taveta Water and Sewerage Company (TAVEVO), Kilifi-Mariakani Water and Sewerage Company (KIMAWASCO), Lamu Water and Sewerage Company (LAWASO), Kwale Water and Sewerage Company (KWAWASCO) and Malindi Water and Sewerage Company (MAWASCO).
The increase in likely to spark off another standoff between the county governments and the CWSB similar to the water bill debts that had led to disconnection of supply to the water services providers two years ago.
Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa commissioned the first borehole at Kaloleni Dispensary,Makadara constituency to serve community residents. “Nairobi is a water-stressed county, after water levels in Ndakaini Dam dropped,”he observed.
