Water Resources Management Authority, (WRMA), has said they will prosecute individuals and organizations that will be found polluting water sources and bodies.
The Authority CEO, Eng. Phillip Olum said pollution of water sources was a major concern now especially in counties that has the water towers including Bungoma which has Mt. Elgon as one of the major towers saying they were taking steps to curb the menace.
Speaking in Bungoma during a Lake Victoria North Water Catchment Area Forum, Olum, said they had already taken certain organizations to court over water pollution.
He said water sources were increasingly facing the pollution menace and as such steps needed to be taken to save water resources and protect water users across the country.
“There are certain areas we don’t deal with water scarcity but pollution. This as a result of industrial and agricultural activity and we have taken steps to address the issues and already we have taken certain people to court over water source pollution,” he said.
Olum said they were working on regulations on the use of water sources and this will help in the protection of water sources and bodies.
He said without regulation and permission, water bodies will be misused and sources will be degraded.
He added that the authority was in the process of initiating a program of rehabilitating water catchment areas to improve the quality and quantity of water distributed for use.
He said water sources were facing quality challenges as many catchment areas had been degraded and thus the need to rehabilitate the areas.
“We need to rehabilitate our catchment areas in order to improve the quality of water that is distributed to the people. We are initiating a campaign to tell people that we can repair our catchment areas,” he said.
Olum further blamed the defunct local councils for allocating land on riparian areas around the country.
A riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream, (the land adjacent to water bodies).
He said the riparian areas, needed to be protected yet the conservation of such areas was difficult as land was allocated to individuals.
He said there was need for a multi sector approach as it was a complex issue that needed the input of both national and county governments.
“Riparian encroachment is a complex issue and we need various approaches to help us. Such encroachment leads to fatalities that we saw in Nairobi’s Huruma area and we need to address the issue quickly,” said Olum