By Antony Gitonga
Months after oil deposits were discovered in Turkana County, it has now emerged that the dry region has billions of litres of underground water.
According to the Director of Water Resources John Nyaoro, research had indicated there are rivers underneath the region.
Nyaoro said that plans were underway to start drilling boreholes in the area so as to address the acute water shortage in the region.
“Through the use of satellite technology, we have come to learn that Kenya has over 60B cubic litres of underground water with Turkana area carrying a bulk of this,” he said.
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He said the Government was committed to ensuring all Kenyans had clean and portable water by 2030.
The director said that 800 Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs) had been formed to address water issues in the country.
Nyaoro said that funds generated by the water sector annually had continued to rise from Sh3B in 1982 to Sh40B in 2011.
“Currently the government is constructing five major dams and twelve more will be ready by 2024,”he said
Nyaoro was speaking in Kibonde village in Gilgil during the commissioning of two springs that have been renovated by WWF.
According to WWF Project coordinator Robert Ndetei, the organisation had used Sh3m to renovate the springs.
“Previously the locals had hard time getting water but under the project, they can easily get access to clean water,” he said.
