Challenges of groundwater management in the city of Nairobi

Abstract

Water is very important for urban development. As urban areas grow, the demand for a regular and reliable source of water supply becomes very important. In Nairobi, the source of water supply has mainly been from rivers. The Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company has been responsible for water supply in the city. However, as the city has continued to grow both in population and the physical extent, demand for water has over stripped supply. This has resulted in water shortages. City residents have therefore resulted to alternative sources of water like groundwater. Though groundwater is a renewable resource, there are risks to its exploitation. Unregulated exploitation of groundwater can result into overexploitation, contamination of the resource, land subsidence and overcharging. There is therefore need for groundwater management measures to be put in place to manage and regulate its exploitation and use. The research examined trends in groundwater usage and the regulatory environment for ground water exploitation. Several study methodologies were used as outlined in the methodology section of this paper but in summary this included quantitative examination of data from boreholes drilled in Nairobi area from 1950 to 2000, literature review, interviews with key informants from the Ministry of Water and borehole owners and their agents. The research found out that there has been increasingly reliance on ground water supply as evidenced by increase in the number of boreholes drilled in the Nairobi over the years sampled covered by the study. The predominant use of the drilled water was for domestic use. The research also found out that the legal framework for management of groundwater resources has been set up as outlined in the Water Act of 2002, which created the Water Resource Management Authority, an autonomous body established to manage water resources in Kenya. However, the research found that although there has been increasing use and exploitation of groundwater and although there is a regulatory mechanism in place, this regulatory mechanism is not robust enough to ensure safe and sustainable exploitation of this important resource and needs to be further strengthened and resourced