The Kenya Energy Generating Company (KENGEN) has assured residents of the Lower Tana that the Seven Forks dams are not likely to fill up and spill any time soon.
As such, residents of the lower regions that have recently experienced flooding due to heavy rains in the North Eastern region need not be worried that spillovers from the dams will aggravate the flooding downstream.
KENGEN ‘s acting Generation Engineer for Eastern Region, Isaac Tarus, said the largest of the dams, Masinga, was filling up at a rate of 200 cubic metres a second and that if the rains continue as they have been well into next year, then they do not expect the dam to fill until April next year.
Tarus, who was accompanied by the Head of Corporate Communications, Frank Ochieng, said they are stepping up hydropower generation now that water levels have increased following the current rains.
Tarus added that the water levels at Masinga are already five metres above the minimum operating level of 1037 metres above sea level.
By Steve Gatheru
