News Excerpt:
Athi River has no piped water or sewage system, and drought is making clean water supplies more scarce and expensive for locals.
About Athi River Town:
- It is a town outside Kenya's capital, Nairobi, in Machakos County.
- The town is named after the Athi River, which passes through it.
- It is also known as Mavoko.
- Athi River is a water-scarce region. The grasslands have turned brown from the scorching sun and vast tracts of land are left untilled now as residents couldn't farm the drylands.
- Consecutive seasons of failed rains and drought, driven by human-caused climate change and consecutive naturally occurring La Nina, have worsened shortages.
About Athi River:
- The Athi-Galana-Sabaki River is Kenya's second longest river (after the Tana River).
- This river rises in the Gatamaiyo Forest as the Athi River and then enters the Indian Ocean as the Galana River or the Sabaki River.
- The Athi River flows across the Kapote and Athi plains, through Athi River town, then takes a northeast turn where the Nairobi River meets it.
- The Thwake Dam or Thwake Multi-purpose Water Development Programme is a dam complex built on the Athi River in Kenya.
- Both Athi River and Thwake Dam are Kenya's most polluted water bodies with the highest levels of toxic elements.
