NATIONAL WATER CONSERVATION & PIPELINE CORPORATION

 SPEECH BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF NATIONAL WATER CONSERVATION & PIPELINE CORPORATION HON. Dr. JULIUS KONES DURING THE KENYA NATIONAL DAM CONFERENCE 2018, HELD ON 8^TH– 9^TH   MARCH 2018 AT THE FLAMINGO BEACH RESORT & SPA HOTEL, MOMBASA.

The Cabinet Secretary- Ministry of Water & Sanitation,

The Cabinet Secretary- Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources,

The Governor, Mombasa County,

Chief Administrative Secretary, Ms. Winnie Guchu,

The County Commissioner, Mombasa County,

Board Chairpersons present,

National Water Board of Directors

Board of Directors present,

Chief Executive Officers,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 Happy women’s day to all the ladies in the house!

 It is interesting that this conference has coincided with the International women’s day. As we celebrate this day, let us remember that the biggest gift we can give to our mothers, sisters and daughters is access to clean water.

 National Water is proud to host the 1^st Kenya National Dam Conference. This conference is a culmination of an enormous collective effort which began several months ago. We thank all our partners and sponsors who have worked tirelessly with us to ensure a successful conference.

 I welcome you all to this great forum where we seek to exchange ideas and experiences with an aim of providing solutions to the water challenges we face and consequently enhancing water harvesting and storage for water and food security.

Distinguished Participants,

I thank you all for coming. I know you have spared your precious time off your busy schedules to attend this important conference. I thank the paper presenters who have done a lot of research on various technical fields, am sure all your findings will not go in vain, as it will contribute to policy making on the technical areas of dam construction and management.

I am glad that our Cabinet Secretary is here together with his Chief Administrative Secretary, my colleagues and representatives from the county governments. With our technocrats here too, we should be able to come up with firm resolutions that we can implement especially at this time of transition in the water sector.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 The theme of this conference, “Synergy in Water Resources Infrastructure for Water Security” is exciting and timely. This conference aims to build partnerships to make water harvesting and infrastructure development more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable. We need to look at ways of bringing the cost of dams down. Bwana CS, I am sure this is your concern too. We will should bring the ministry of lands too on board to address the issue of high cost of land compensation. This is a major challenge.

Most importantly, is the issue of funding? It is time we think outside the box on this crucial issue. Public sector funding and resources are often inadequate to meet increasing demands for investment and effective management. In this regard, there is increased involvement by the private sector in provision of water infrastructure and services through PPP arrangements globally.

Distinguished Delegates,

We welcome the private sector to join us in contributing towards financing the much needed development, maintenance and expansion of cost effective water infrastructure. The public-private partnerships offer significant opportunities for strengthening institutional capacity for the water sector, improvement of  inter-sector linkages to generate greater synergy and impact on social- economic well-being of all Kenyans.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

One of the strategic options towards achieving sustainable water development that adapts to increased population and climate change, is construction of dams.

The National Water Master Plan (NWMP) 2030 addresses the water resource management challenges in Kenya and sets out plans to support the realization of Vision 2030. The NWMP anticipates the development of a total of 17,860 small dams and water pans adding an additional 893 Million Cubic Meters. This represents a significant investment in water storage.

Water harvesting is an obvious solution to increase climate resilience and food security. In the arid lands of Kenya, the solution is a combination of innovative and adaptive water harvesting infrastructure and environmental conservation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I wind up, it is important to remember the issue of dam safety, I am sure we will get more details from the paper presenters on this critical area.

Finally, I must emphasize the need to have a more coordinated decision making across sectors. The Water Act 2016 has given National Water the main mandate of “Water Harvesting and Storage. And that is why our name is changing to “National Water Harvesting & Storage Authority.” We need support from all stakeholders and especially our parent ministry to implement this.

Lastly fellow participants,

We need to do business differently and more efficiently as we focus on the Vision 2030 goals. Let us make use of this forum and interrogate critical issues and challenges we face in the water sector with an aim of coming up with long lasting solutions.

Together we are going to make great things happen.