Govt has both short and long term measures to floods in Nyando

 

Cabinet Secretary in charge of ICT and Digital Economy Eliud Owalo distributes relief food to the residents of Nyamasao area in Ahero ward who have been affected by the floods due to the ongoing heavy rains witnessed-Photo and Story By Dickson Odhiambo

December 7, 2023

 

Govt has both short and long term measures to floods in Nyando

 

THE Kenyan Kwanza Government has said it has both the short and long term measures to tackle the perennial floods in Nyando constituency and its environs.

 

Cabinet Secretary in charge of ICT and Digital Economy Eliud Owalo says this is a commitment the current Government has made to ensure that the issue of the perennial floods within Nyando constituency and its environs are dealt with once and for all.

 

Addressing the residents of Ombaka area at Nyamasao Primary school today when he distributed relief food to people affected by the floods due to ongoing heavy rains witnessed in various parts across the country, Owalo said as a short term measure, the Government will construct the dykes along the River Nyando to help in controlling the floods.

 

Owalo says the dykes will surely help in controlling the water flow that have been witnessed during the heavy rains in Nyando area plus other areas prone to floods in Nyanza region.

 

The Cabinet Secretary says as part of the long term solutions to this issue of flooding, the Government will ensure that the Koru-Soin Dam is fully constructed and it will help in controlling the floods, provide water for irrigation and help in the generation of electricity for the residents of Nyando and Kericho areas.

 

“The construction of the Koru-Soin Dam if pursued to a logical conclusion will surely help us to solve this flood menace witnessed every year during the long rainy seasons,” Owalo says.

 

Leaders who accompanied the ICT Cabinet Secretary urged the Government to fully have a lasting solution to the issue of perennial floods in Nyando and other parts of the country, adding that it is not very good that every year during the long rainy seasons residents of Nyando and other parts of the country prone to floods calls out the government for help on this matter.

The proposed Koru-Soin Dam is a vision 2030 flagship project which is located in Kisumu and Kericho counties along River Nyando approximately 5 kilometers upstream of Muhoroni town and River Nyando is one of the seven major rivers within the Lake Victoria Basin originating from the upper highland areas and flows into the Lake Victoria.

 

The Dam started in 1982 by Italian Government and taken over by the NWCPC in 2009.

The Project’s components include Rockfill dam of 54 meters height, storage capacity of 93.7MM cubic and water treatment works of 71.279 Meters cubic per day.

 

Others include trunk distribution pipelines of diameters 1200-150 millimeters and of total length of 122.54 kilometers as well as 12 number storage tanks of total capacity of 23.400 meters.

 

One of the major benefits of the project will be to control the perennial floods caused by the river Nyando over-topping its banks thereby affecting a section of residents in Kisumu County especially in Nyando, Muhoroni and Nyakach constituencies.

 

Flooding within lower reaches of Kano plains displaces more than 5,000 people yearly costing about shs 50 million due to damages and further shs 30 million for rehabilitation measures.

 

Another benefit is water supply for domestic, commercial {Irrigation} and institutional use as all the residents near the dam site and downstream of the dam site will be served with water to supplement the existing facilities where areas like Kisumu City and the emerging towns of Ahero, Chemelil, Miwani, Muhoroni, Koru, Awasi, Koitaburot, Katito, Masogo and Ombeyi will be major beneficiaries as a result of this project.

 

The other benefits include increased area under irrigation schemes in and around Ahero and West Kano Irrigation schemes from 1,800 hectares to 5,370 and also power generation of approximately 2.5 megawatts which will be used to pump water to higher areas while excess power sold to Kenya Power as this will translate to cheaper water and additional income for the two counties.