Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company Ltd has embarked on a plan to plant  at least a million tree seedlings.

The trees will be planted on 6,000 acres of land in different forests in the North Rift region.  

ELDOWAS Managing Director Kibet Biwott said the firm has risen to the occasion to preserve water catchment areas, as they were forced to solely depend on Chebara Dam that produces only 41.3 million litres per day out of the expected 60 million litres to cater for the 424,000 residents of Eldoret.

Company has planted trees in Kaptagat Forest, which forms part of the Cherangany Complex water tower and put in place mechanisms for proper management of the forest to ensure it is protected and conserved.

 “We have forest stations within Kaptagat catchment, Sabaor, Kaptagat and Emon that will work closely with the community forest association to ensure water tower is sustainably managed,” Biwott said. 

He underscored the importance of conserving Kaptagat Forest, noting that unplanned harvesting and wanton destruction of indigenous trees has forced ELDOWAS to shut down one of its water treatment plants at Kapsoiya whose source was Kaptagat for lack of water.

“Our Pombo reservoir no longer receives enough water because the rivers and streams supplying it have dried up due to destruction of the forest. This led to the closure of Kapsoiyo treatment works because it no longer received enough water from the reservoir,” he explained.

“The importance of water as a resource cannot be overemphasised, conflicts have been known to erupt because of water scarcity. That  is why we need to re-afforest and conserve our major water towers to ensure residents receive sufficient water supply, stressed Biwott.

ELDOWAS recently joined United Nations global compact with the aim on environmental conservation and provision of high quality services when it comes to preservation and sanitation services.

The MD called on transplanting trees that will increase the forest cover and in the end conserve the catchment areas. The clarion call of the organisation is Linda Maji Mtaani and Linda Maji Viwandani, which will preserve the little water resulting from the drought season.

Key mandate

Firm recently launched Eldoret inaugural conference in conjunction with Eldoret City Marathon with key mandate on mitigating climate change and preserving the environment.

“Each athlete plants a tree to commemorate their running and this has increased the forest cover to 10 per cent up from 8.2 per cent. The county targets to further raise the forest cover to 15 per cent,” added Biwott.

County has partnered with schools and various corporates to bring about a collaborative effort towards environment conservation.

Biwott said they were now on initial phase of tree planting through the County’s Linda Maji Initiative and would continue with this good cause even in the coming years.

Kerio Valley Development Authority Managing Director Sammy Naporos reiterated on their commitment in environmental conservation.

“Our trees are being cut down, mostly the endangered indigenous that are key to our environmental preservation and our businesses as well,” Naporos said.  KVDA is also in the forefront conserving dryland through promotion and multiplication of the aborea seeds.

 – KNA