The Tana Athi River Development Authority has raised concern about the continuous degradation along the river Tana terming it a major stumbling block to the sustainability of irrigation projects set up downstream.
Tarda board chairman Patrick Gichuru said there was an urgent need for conservation of river Tana by planting more trees along the bank to ensure they reduce the effects of the destruction of the environment.
Speaking after touring the Tana Delta Irrigation scheme which is being revived, he said without conservation and the drought being witnessed, sustaining the projects would be difficult.
So far at the Kitere intake in Tanadelta, the water levels have gone down as a result of the drought which the chairman said was contributed also by the destruction of trees along the river Tana right from upstream.
Gichuru said Tarda was committed to conserving river Tana to ensure there is enough water for irrigation downstream, particularly during the drought season.
Already rice farming has resumed in Tanadelta and the chairman said they will work closely with the local community to ensure they are part of the transformation process in line with the bottom-up agenda of President William Ruto.
“This is the main intake of the project and we are supposed to irrigate around 12,000 acres. Our major concern is to conserve the river to ensure there is constant water available in the scheme with sources of water storage,” he said.
The chairman said they are focusing more on the manifesto given by the President in terms of food production.
He said there is a big potential in Tana Delta Irrigation Scheme to feed the country.
“Being my first visit as chair of Tarda here is to ensure the waters of Tana river is properly conserved, the irrigation schemes that fall under the river, are properly protected and the catchment of Tana river is going to be protected,” he said.
So far, his major concern he said was that the canal is almost drying though there were plans and proposals to ensure there is enough water for the delta in the main scheme.
He said as soon as the canal is irrigated and have enough water, they will be able to irrigate the scheme.
Gichuru said they will work hand in hand with the National government, county government and the local communities that live along the river to ensure the project is a success.
“After visiting this Delta here, we shall be moving upcountry, upstream to ensure that from the source of Tana river down to this delta there is proper coordinated conservation of the river, that is our main focus,” he said.
The chairman said they will plant enough trees along the river and make sure all the river banks are protected to conserve the water
He was accompanied by Tarda Managing Director Liban Duba and some members of the board.
Seif Jonathan a resident of Vumbwe village that is within the TARDA irrigation scheme in Tanadelta said they were happy that the project was being revived because the community suffered a lot when it collapsed.
He said before TARDA, they used to suffer during drought but the authority-built protection dykes which are ensuring they are safe.
Further he said when the project was in operation, they got employment and incase of famine one would be given rice to go and eat at home.
“Now life has become tough, since the scheme came there is grass called mrenda which grows and is now used to feed our families, those with animals including farmers have begun rearing animals again,” he said.
Jonathan said they are now optimism that life will be back to normal and called on the government to invest more as the project is able to feed the ensure nation and also transform the lives of locals.
-Edited by SKanyara