Kenya is a country with an abundant amount of natural water resources. However, these are distributed very unevenly, as 85% of the country is considered arid or semi-arid zones, while three-quarters of surface water originates from the central highlands. Lake Tana and Lake Victoria are the two main bodies of surface water, while the Rift Valley has the highest-yielding aquifers. As regards groundwater, it is underutilized compared to surface water.
Natural water resources in Kenya
Thus, despite having these natural water resources, the Kenyan population continues to have a problem with access to drinking water today. According to data from Water.org, 15% of people in Kenya depend on unimproved water sources, that is, probably contaminated, such as wells or ponds, and 41% lack access to basic sanitation infrastructure. According to UNICEF, the number of people without access to drinking water would reach 59%. As in other African countries, this problem is more accentuated in rural areas and urban suburbs, in the former due to an endemic lack of infrastructure, and in the latter especially due to the high levels of contamination of accessible water sources.
Climate change will aggravate this situation since rainfall in Kenya is expected to increase, but also periods of drought. And without adequate infrastructure to store and treat water, rainfall will not provide relief from current water stress.
According to the USAID study, the five large hydroelectric dams on the Tana River, which also serve for irrigation, have reduced wet season flows in downstream wetlands. Development plans call for the construction of new dams and expansion of irrigation to reduce poverty and improve resilience to drought, but this could lead to overexploitation of surface water.
Organization and financing, the keys to improving access to drinking water
An improvement of the infrastructures that allow the conservation and treatment of water to make it drinkable seems to be the most viable alternative, but it is not so easy, due to a mere organizational question. The overlapping of functions and responsibilities between the Government and the different provincial and local authorities, in addition to the scarcity of funds, are the main obstacle to overcome in Kenya for good water management. In fact, access to drinking water has become a political issue, being the plans to make drinking water accessible to all one of the proposals of the different parties.
But the lack of coordination means that each area follows its own agenda, and issues related to access to drinking water are relegated to the background, such as projects such as the National Strategic Plan for the Education Sector, which has as one of the objectives «the availability of clean water, the promotion of hand washing and adequate sanitation in preschool schools have a positive impact on the health of children, avoiding diseases and infections transmitted by water». The schools end up trying to implement the Plan with their own limited resources, and many still depend on basic purification systems.
In addition to the lack of coordination at the government level, funding is the other cornerstone in solving access to clean water in Kenya. Although since 2000 both the Government and its partner’s investment has increased significantly to improve access to drinking water, such as urban water supply and sewerage systems to prevent pollution, the country still relies heavily on external funding to carry out projects such as Kenya’s National Water Master Plan 2030. Initiatives by non-governmental organizations such as Water is Life Kenya remain essential to supply water to rural areas.
In summary, in Kenya, access to drinking water continues to be one of the main challenges for the social and economic development of the country, but it will require two key factors: Better coordination between the Government and public entities at different levels, and greater investment in water supply and purification infrastructures, among others.
Therefore, the market for water treatment in Kenya is expected to increase in the coming years, due to the existing need for a large part of the population, the decrease in freshwater reserves, and the increase in industrial activities.
