Water shortage leaves Gulu City residents thirsty
At least 12,000 customers are connected to NWSC’s piped water system.
What you need to know:
- NWSC has since shut down the water pump at Oyitino Dam and began drawing water from Karuma Falls.
- At least 12,000 customers are connected to NWSC’s piped water system.
The National Water & Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has resorted to rationing water supply in Gulu City following a drop in waster levels at Oyitino Dam.
The dam is the major source of water for NWSC in Gulu City.
According to a March 17 statement issued by the corporation, the prolonged drought affected most parts of the Acholi Sub-region, causing a decline in water levels at the main reservoir and forcing a temporary suspension of pumping from the dam.
“NWSC Gulu Management informs you that due to extreme weather conditions, water levels at Oyitino Dam have drastically dropped. To prevent further damage to our pumps, we have decided to halt pumping from Oyitino until the water levels rise with the anticipated rains,” the statement reads in part.
NWSC has since shut down the water pump at Oyitino Dam and began drawing water from Karuma Falls.
“As a result, Gulu City’s water supply will now entirely rely on Karuma. Karuma water was designed to supplement Oyitino, with a combined capacity of 20 million litres. However, with only 10 million litres currently available from Karuma, this may not be sufficient to meet the growing water demand in the city,” the statement adds.
Mr Ivan Tekakwo, the public relations Officer for NWSC in Gulu District, said some areas in the city and its suburbs are experiencing intermittent water supply.
“However, we are working to ensure a fair distribution of the available water as we wait for the situation to improve,” he said.
According to Tekakwo, their pumps at Oyitino Dam have become unreliable, making it difficult to operate at full capacity. He assured residents that the normal supply would resume when the rainy season intensifies.
At least 12,000 customers are connected to NWSC’s piped water system. Each day, the corporation pumps between 12 and 15 million cubic litres of water to customers within the city and its suburbs.
In the last decade, demand for water in Gulu City and its suburbs has outstripped supply. Earlier this month, Mr Benson Ongom, a television journalist based in Gulu City, criticised the corporation for what he described as poor service delivery. He stated that sometimes he receives water in his tap only once a month.
This is not the first time the dam has dried up. In March 2016, Oyitino Dam dried to its bed, leaving thousands of people in Gulu City without water for nearly three weeks. The longest dry spell ever recorded in a year caused water levels at the dam to drop from 4.65 metres to 0.08 metres.
Similarly, in 2017, a disruption in water supplies affected at least 11,000 customers. NWSC was later forced to stop pumping water after the dam dried up completely.
Gulu recorded the highest temperature in the country in February, according to a report released by the Uganda National Meteorological Authority. The report revealed that the highest daily maximum temperature recorded at the Gulu weather station was 36.7 degrees Celsius.
The dam was built in the early 1970s and has supplied water to more than 150,000 residents of Gulu City for the last 45 years.
To address the problem, NWSC has injected Shs274 million into drilling four motorised boreholes in and around Gulu City. These boreholes can produce 2.5 million litres of water per day.
