The Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation has launched Sh.1.3 billion projects to connect 9,000 households in Nyali and Kisauni sub counties to water.
Cabinet Secretary CS Sicily Kariuki said the Coast Water Works Development Agency has embarked on improvement of water services in the Coast region.
She said phase one of the projects will focus on Nyali to connect 4,000 houses to water while 5000 houses in Kisauni will also benefit from the projects.
The project is sponsored by the World Bank.
“It is a program to elevate low water coverage in Mombasa from 27 per cent to slightly over 40 per cent,” said Kariuki.
She said the long term solution for water shortage in the region will be addressed through the Sh.20 billion Mwache multipurpose Dam project in Kwale County that is set to commence construction in November.
“We have only 20 persons who are going through the final phase of land compensation to be able to move away from priority one area where the dam is going to be established when we break ground in November,” said Kariuki.
She said the dam to be completed in 2025 will be a midterm solution to water shortage in Mombasa and Kwale. The first phase will supply an extra 40 per cent of water required.
The construction of the Mwache dam project is meant to harness the flood flows from Mwache River basin in Kinango sub county and help tackle persistent water shortages in the coastal region.
The Mwache Dam is an 87.5 meter-tall concrete gravity dyke, impounding 118 million cubic meters for water supply and irrigation and is expected to boost the water supply for Kwale and Mombasa counties.
The massive dam, when complete, is expected to put 2,600 hectares of land under irrigation in Kwale County.
Kariuki said that by the time Mwache dam is complete, it will yield 85 percent of water coverage moving Mombasa away from the scarcity to sufficient supply.
She said the ministry launched Makamini Dam three months ago in Kwale which will enable upstream follow.
She said the government policy is that where the government taps into water resources, the water will serve the downstream and upstream population.
“Three months ago, I launched Makamini Dam which is upstream and will be giving water to people upstream. We also have small projects of boreholes to be able to serve people living upstream in Mwache Dam,” said Kariuki.
She said the government is also looking into the issue of water salinization, a project that has been proposed by Mombasa County.
“The National Treasury is accessing the salinization proposal and determining its feasibility, the economic and sustainability. Once the Treasury has done its assessment from engineering, technical and economic impact, it will release the funds,” said Kariuki.
Kariuki said the Sh 516,443,375 has been pumped to see the completion of the Nyali project to ensure steady flow of water in the region that relies on hospitality.
The program involves laying 65 kilometers of water pipelines and construction and installation of air valves, washouts, fire hydrants, marker posts and chambers.
She said the installation will meet a water demand of 107,080 meter cubic per day.
The project is set to be complete by October next year.