Relief to livestock keepers as water source is restored in Monduli

Arusha. Efforts to restore the depleted water source in the remote village of Monduli District are proving successful, with water flowing once again for the first time in over a decade.
The Losimingori spring has been the sole source of water for five villages mapped within two wards of Monduli Districts with a joint population of nearly 30,000 residents.
Beneficiary villages include Naiti, Mbuyuni, Lepurko, Losiming’ori and Makuyuni-Juu.
According to the chairperson of Losiming’ori Village, Lazaro Laizer, the source once bubbling with gushing fresh water turned into a dusty gorge in 2021 due to effects of climate change.
“When water diminished upstream, people used to take cattle right to the source for the little liquid available and the scramble of people and livestock further served to totally destroy what was left,” explained Laizer.
In order to rescue the situation, the Lepurko Ward Representative, Yonas Masiaya Laiser, in conjunction with the Foundation for Empowering Local Community Initiative (FELOCI), launched a project to restore the source.
To start with, they planted trees around the water source and sealed the area off from intruders.
And it has paid dividends; they formulated an environmental project and managed to secure funds to the tune of Sh60 million from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The project was officially launched at the location in Losimingori Village of Lepurko Ward in Monduli District, where Mr Masiaya explained that though the project covers five villages, the water will benefit ten other villages in the adjoining five wards downstream.
Once back to its original form, the spring will be capable of producing 400,000 litres of water per day.
The wildlife officer from Makuyuni Wildlife Park, Laurence Laurent, said the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (Tawa) said the restoration of the water source will help alleviate human-wildlife conflicts in the area.
“Sometimes people would trespass into the wildlife park with their livestock looking for water for domestic use as well as their domestic use and this used to cause problems,” he said.