• Dam will have capacity of 60 million cubic metres of water.
• It will also boost water supply to Nairobi county while connecting 170,000 homes in Murang'a.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
A Sh800 million Maragua Dam will be built in Murang'a county to compensate residents for their river water supplied to Nairobi county.
Water PS Joseph Wairagu announced the construction on Monday when he commissioned a Sh6 million community borehole at Murang’a Teachers Training College with Maragua MP Mary Waithera.
The borehole will produce 120 litres per day and serve the institution and surrounding homes.
Wairagu said the dam will supply domestic and irrigation water to Maragua, Sabasaba, Kamahuha, Maragua ridge and Kambiti areas. It will connect 170,ooo homes in Murang'a county.
The government is implementing water projects worth about Sh7 billion in Murang’a.
The dam will be on the boundaries of Kigumo, Kangema and Kiharu constituencies at the confluence of Irati and Gikigie rivers in the Aberdare catchment area.
It will be 100 metres high with a storage capacity of 60 million cubic metres.
The government is about to complete the construction of the Northern Collector Tunnel, which will draw 140,000 cubic metres from rivers Maragua, Irati and Gikigie and channel it to Ndakaini dam every day.
The Athi Water Sevices Board says the dam is part of a master plan for Nairobi and 13 satellite towns. It has identified interventions to meet water demand up to 2035.
But only some of the identified interventions that will add 200,000 cubic meters per day have received funding from the government and its partners.
The board said the existing water reservoirs — Ndakaini, Sasumua and Ruiru dams — are unable to meet Nairobi's water demand.
The shortage has resulted in water rationing in most parts of the city and the surrounding satellite towns. The board intends to construct another dam on the Maragua River, the board said. It is calling for expressions of interest for funding, design and buildng.
In Murang’a county, the treated water transmission will comprise 42km water pipelines distribute water to Murang’a South.
The board will then construct a 15km pipeline to transfer 1.68 cubic metres of water per second from Maragua Dam to Kigumo water treatment plant. It will have capacity to treat 20,000 cubic metres per day.
Another 12km-long pipeline will channel 1.38 cubic metres per second from Kigumo area to Ndunyu Chege treatment works.
Other Murang'a projets include the Sh1.2 billion Kenol sewerage project, the Sh250 million Gatango project, Sh300 million Gatanga project and many irrigation projects, the PS said.
(Edited by V. Graham)