Governors in drought-prone regions told to dig pans to conserve El Nino waters

Water Tower Agency Chairman Isaac Kalua.

KITUI: Kenyans have been urged to dig water pans on their farms to be able to harvest as much water as possible during the predicted El Nino rains.

Water Tower Agency Chairman Isaac Kalua also wants the public to take advantage of the expected heavy rains and plant more trees both at farm and water catchment areas.

"We need to prepare ourselves to tap the rain water for future use by creating small water pans in our farms during the rain period," he said.

Dr Kalau challenged county governments in drought-prone areas to construct dams to harvest some of the water from the rains for use future use.

"I want to encourage every Kenyan to grow as many trees as possible during the rains period in order to save the dwindling forest cover," he added.

He said the agency is committed to ensuring effective and sufficient management of the country's water towers.

"We are committed as an agency to this endeavour to help the country achieve her Vision 2013 projection of 10 per cent forest cover," he said.

Governor Alfred Mutua's government has embarked on plans to tackle any effects of the expected El Nino rains.

The governor announced last week that his government has set aside some Sh300 million to help in mitigating the effects of the predicted heavy rains in the county.