15 years after the idea was conceived, construction recently began on the Subuiga Dam in the Buuri sub-county of Meru County. The dam will help in irrigating 4,000 acres, which will benefit over 25,000 residents.
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Kisima Farm and Ngare Nything Water Resources Users Association, as well as county and government agencies, partnered to construct the Subuiga Dam. It will have the capacity to hold 15 million liters of rainwater, according to John Kinoti. John Kinoti is the chief programs and partnerships officer at Lewa Conservancy.
Nearly 12 acres of the land where the dam will be constructed were donated by Kisima Farm Ltd., a mixed-use farm in the Timau area. The second phase of the project will cost about Sh12 million. It is said that  Lewa has committed Sh40 million to the first phase.
Using the Ngare Nything river, whose volume had reduced due to the drought, Mr. Kinoti said they were committed to helping the locals obtain water for domestic, livestock, and agricultural use.
Kinoti said that the region has an acute water shortage. Once the rains begin, they will collect rainwater to deal with the situation. It is advisable to collect water whenever it rains due to the ongoing drought that is ravaging the country.
The Subuiga Dam completion date
He added that the project was slated to be completed around April of the next year. He said that during the dry spell, residents would have access to water from the reservoir.
The reservoir will benefit the residents in Subuiga, Matunda, and Ntumbori, as well as the environs.
When it’s complete, he said, residents, livestock, schools, and other institutions in the area will get an alternative water source, and it’s going to serve the purpose of sensitizing the public on the need for them to be collecting rainwater.
The idea of a Subuiga Dam in the area had been brought up in the past, according to Martin Dyer, chairman of the Ngare Nything Water Users Association, and they were happy that construction had finally started.
He urged Kenya’s water user organizations to construct dams to increase river water volumes.
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza expressed her administration’s willingness to allocate funds for water during the groundbreaking ceremony.
