The Thika dam is a 63 m high, 458 m crest length earthfill dam on the Thika River near Ndakaini, 50 km north of Nairobi, Kenya. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 70 million cubic meters and serves for drinking water supply. Water is treated at the Ngethu treatment works. The dam has increased the reliability of water supply to

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

, which suffered water shortages during the dry season before construction of the dam was completed in 1994. The dam has been financed by the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...

, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, the European Investment Bank and the Kenyan government. Its construction had been delayed because of difficulties in land acquisition, leading to cost overruns. During construction the dam design has been modified to allow it to withstand a 1:10,000-year flood and to improve dam safety.African Development Ban
Project Completion Report:Third Nairobi Water Supply Project
July 1998, p. 9

References

Dams in Kenya Earth-filled dams Dams completed in 1994 {{Africa-dam-stub