TARDA TURNS ATHI BASIN FINDINGS INTO A ROADMAP FOR RESILIENCE
What happens to a river upstream is felt by communities downstream.
On 10th August 2026 TARDA Management, led by Managing Director Mr. Liban Roba, received findings from a nine-day field data collection exercise across the Upper and Middle Athi River Basin to inform the Integrated Athi River Basin Development Plan.
The exercise took our teams across Kiambu, Kajiado, Nairobi, Machakos and Makueni — assessing water resources, catchments, irrigation systems, dams and conservation initiatives, while engaging communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on the basin.
The Athi Basin holds enormous potential for water security, agriculture and livelihoods. But that potential faces pressure from pollution, riparian encroachment, soil erosion, siltation, declining flows, unregulated sand harvesting and pressure on critical water infrastructure.
For communities, these pressures can mean unreliable water supplies, threats to agricultural production, flooding and exposure to unsafe water. The exercise also identified community conservation efforts and restoration opportunities.
At Thwake Dam, the findings highlighted the scale of what integrated water infrastructure can deliver — water supply, irrigation, hydropower and flood management — while reinforcing the need to protect the catchment and address pollution upstream.
For TARDA, this is more than a technical exercise.
It is about ensuring that planning responds to what communities are experiencing on the ground.
The evidence will inform practical interventions in water resource management, catchment restoration, climate resilience, flood-risk reduction, irrigation development and inclusive socio-economic development.
Good planning starts with good data.
Good data must ultimately translate into safer water, productive land, healthier ecosystems and better livelihoods.
The Plan will provide a coordinated roadmap for protecting the basin while unlocking its potential for the millions who depend on it.
Evidence. Planning. Action. Impact.
