In the past 15 years, the towns of Mbarara and Masaka, and neighboring small towns, have not received any major investments in water and sanitation infrastructure, as the investments over time were insufficient to address the locals’ needs.  As a result, major sections of the existing infrastructure are now in a dilapidated stage and there are limited infrastructure extensions to the more recently built up areas of these towns. 

Mbarara, in addition, is facing severe issues with its current raw water source, the river Rwizi, where the impacts of catchment degradation have resulted in the river being prone to flush floods during rainy periods and almost completely drying up during the dry season. 

In an effort to address the dire situation, in 2013, NWSC secured a grant from the AfD to conduct a feasibility study for the development of Water and sanitation Infrastructure in the South Western Cluster towns.  The feasibility study has since been finished, the results of which have been used for establishing baseline conditions to determine technical infrastructure requirements and the resulting financial needs for project implementation.

This Package will be implemented in two phases with Phase 1 covering the water demand design horizon 2030 and Phase 2 covering the water demand design horizon 2040.

In the 1st phase, the main components of the project are: Kagera Intake (8m³), Kagera WTP (30 000 m³/d), Kabingo Pumping Station, 2000m³ Concrete tank at Bihunya Hill, 800m³ Steel Tank at Kaberebere, 450m³ Steel Tank in KAJAHO, 57.8km DI pipeline. The phase will also entail a SCADA system that will cover all the area through radio communication system (150-400 Mhz) which will help NWSC to better operate the new facilities.