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Kenya’s main rivers are fast shrinking spelling doom for the renewed focus on agriculture, the country’s main source of income.

The Kenya Kwanza administration has identified agriculture as one of the sectors that need rejigging as it attempts to rejuvenate the struggling economy.

Most small-scale farmers still rely on the rain for their crops but the administration’s interest is to shift to irrigation for large-scale farming for reliable supply of food.

This renewed focus might face challenges, however, as the rivers expected to supply water for the irrigation-fed agriculture are fast drying up as environmentalists warn of a major crisis if the situation does not change for the better.

From Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyandarua, Kericho, Bomet, Kisii and the North Rift, rivers are shrinking at a worrying rate. There are concerns that the rivers could dry up in the next few years.

In Kiambu, most rivers have either dried up or are on the verge of disappearing.

Even the most indigenous water sources, local environmentalists say, are now dry, pointing to a major crisis that could only worsen the current drought in the expansive county.

A spot check by People Daily has established that the situation has affected all the constituencies with major rivers and dams painting a gloomy picture of desiccation and a vague future of food security.

Among the most affected rivers is Chania which originates from the Aberdare Forest and flows through the heart of Thika town where water is tapped, treated and supplied to over 300,000 users through Thika Water and Sewerage Company (Thiwasco).

Human activities

The water provision ecosystem is an indigenous phenomenon that has for years braved all weather odds to quench the thirst of Thika residents and other users upstream in Gatanga and Gatundu North constituencies.

But the once iconic water source is now a high and dry spring that only parades rocks while its former tranquil and relaxing water flow is no more.

Other severely hit rivers which previously gushed down the highlands, quenching the thirst of millions, are Thika, Karimenu, Ndarugo, Githobokoni, Rwabura, Ruiru, Kamiti, Githoito, Komothai among others.

Experts say the state of affairs is a clear indication that if nothing is done, the situation could turn into an irreversible crisis.

The experts pointed an accusing finger to environmental degradation, destructive human activities against the water bodies, massive pollution, encroachment of wetlands and diversion of water for other uses such as agriculture.

Kiambu CEC in charge of Water, Environment and Natural Resources David Kuria said the current situation could be a natural environmental occurrence, similar to what happened in 1984 and 2009.

Kuria noted that human activities such as deforestation, encroachment of rivers and wetlands may have accelerated the effects of climate change.

“In our setup nowadays, we find a family having three or four vehicles all of which either burn gasoline or diesel fuel creating some harmful products such as carbon monoxide among others which largely contribute to environmental degradation,” said Kuria.

For Kiambu to be in the current situation, the CEC further pointed an accusing finger at changes in use of land from agricultural to real estate development which has left very few green spaces.

“Kiambu is now like something else. You find mushrooming tall apartments on your left, right and everywhere. There are many tall buildings but very few green spaces or areas to plant trees which attract rain and conserve water bodies,” Kuria observed.

Water tower

Moses Muya, the chairman for Hearts of Green, an organisation that has been championing environmental conservation and food security, said the alarming rate with which rivers have been drying up should be a wakeup call to all.

“When atmospheric temperatures rise, weather patterns affect where, when and how much rain will fall. Therefore, water distribution changes across regions, and the rivers adapt accordingly, which affects how much freshwater is available for people to drink,” Muya exlplained.

In Nyandarua County, which is a water tower for several neighbouring counties, shrinking rivers in the area paint a grim picture of a possible severe water shortage in the near future.

For many years, people in Tulasha area have grown up knowing Gachuha hanging bridge as their only means of crossing River Tulasha but for about two years now they have been crossing it without using the bridge.

The swing bridge which has existed for 50 years is built over River Tulasha, which separates Gathiriga and Tulasha villages in Kipipiri Constituency.

“The water has reduced so much these days that we just step on stones to cross the river without getting wet,” said Samuel Kariuki, a resident.

The reduced water of River Tulasha is representative of all other rivers in Nyandarua including River Malewa which cuts across most parts of the county.

One river that is the lifeline of the majority of Laikipia County residents, River Ngare Naro whose source is Lake Olbolossat in Nyandarua, has also diminished causing conflict among users downstream.

To stem the conflict, the Laikipia County Commissioner, Joseph Kanyiri directed horticultural farms and large-scale farmers to stop the “illegal abstraction of river water for irrigation.”

“We are calling on big flower farms and other horticultural farms upstream abstracting water from the river for irrigation to consider other users downstream who also depend on the river water for their livestock and domestic use,” said the County Commissioner.

Though water scarcity has been blamed on climate change, leaders and residents from the region blame the overuse of water for irrigation by large-scale farmers among them flower farms along major rivers in the region, for drastic low water flow down streams.

Empty canals

Reduced water flows from water towers have seen most big rivers including the Ewaso Nyiro River get to near-dry-up in the last six months thus threatening the lives of thousands of people in the counties of Laikipia, Samburu and Isiolo.

In Murang’a, at least ten major rivers which the residents rely on for domestic use and farming have shrunk in recent years.

For decades, the rivers whose source is the Aberdare Forest have always been swollen even during the dry season and when the rains come, they would break their banks wreaking havoc in the surroundings.

In the past few years, however, the situation has changed with the water levels in the rivers going down and with some turning into empty canals.

River Mathioya, which is one of the biggest rivers in the county, is gradually drying up and in some sections one can comfortably cross without a bother.

The river cuts across Kangema, Mathioya and Kiharu constituencies before it joins Sagana River in Kirinyaga.

In Kiharu, residents who have been relying on the river for domestic use and farming are grappling with acute water shortage with the sections of the river completely drying up.

According to Job Kariithi, a climate change expert, the low water levels is linked to environmental degradation which has affected the water catchment areas.

He said the bare spaces in the forest are exposed to the sun leading to evaporation of water which would otherwise trickle down to the rivers.

Kisii situation

Kariithi further says a lot of human activities along the river have seen huge amounts of water being diverted and this reduces the volume downstream.

“We have people doing farming on a large scale and they abstract water from the rivers and this is bound to have a direct effect on what is trickling down,” he said.

The situation is similar in Kisii County where residents have been encouraged to conserve and restore wetlands.

Speaking during the commemoration of World Wetlands Day at Nyanturago Wetland in Kisii Central Sub County, Kisii County Executive Committee Member for Environment, Energy, Water and Natural Resources Ronald Nyakweba said wetlands play a key role in water purification, flood control, and also provide habitat for diverse plants and animal species.

Nyakweba noted the county has been implementing the tree planting campaign and replacing eucalyptus trees along the riparian lands as well as demolishing illegal developments around major rivers such as Nyakomisaro, Nyanchwa and Gucha as part of wetlands restoration.

Kisii County Forest Conservator Wellington Ndaka said they plan to plant one million trees in the next year as their contribution to the national tree planting goal of five billion trees in the next five years as part of the national efforts to combat climate change.

—Reporting by Mathew Ndung’u, David Macharia, Rebeccah Wangari and Mercy Osongo