Turning floods into opportunities

During heavy rains in Nakuru, Kenya, flooding often makes its way to the city’s industrial area, shutting down factories that have to halt their production and engage in cleaning up the damage. For Susan Njuguna, Regional Coordinator at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), it is a scenario she has “witnessed far too many times.”

An industrial backbone under pressure

Nakuru’s economy is driven by a diverse mix of manufacturing, agro-processing, and construction industries, alongside growing tourism and service sectors. The city hosts factories that produce building materials, textiles, plastics, and food products, many of them located in or near the central industrial area that has long struggled with flooding. These businesses form the backbone of local employment and investment, making their participation in resilience planning critical for Nakuru’s sustainable growth.

“We have lost both time and machinery due to floods,” explains Susan. “The workers, businesses, and even the entire community are affected by this.”

Bringing everyone to the table

At the beginning of the year, Susan became a participating member in the Water as Leverage (WaL) workshops. This initiative funded by the Dutch government is managed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and implemented in partnership with UN-Habitat, Vitens Evides International through its WaterWorx programme, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It brings together government officials, community representatives, development and private-sector actors to co-design environmentally-friendly and investment-ready solutions for urban water challenges in Nakuru. The WaL Nakuru project uses the ‘sponge city’ design model to tackle flooding, stormwater runoff and climate change, while promoting nature-based infrastructure and inclusive urban growth.

Susan recalls being struck by the inclusive spirit of the workshops. “The best thing for me was the listening aspect. They were really listening to everyone, the residents and even the business owners,” she explains. “If you want to help Nakuru, you must understand its environment.”

Water as a catalyst for change

The WaL approach positions water as a catalyst for sustainable urban transformation. It combines the expertise of spatial design, engineering, planning and finance to unite local knowledge with global innovation to transform environmental challenges into opportunities for equitable development supported by an international and local multidisciplinary design team. This approach is now being scaled across cities through the Upscaling Water as Leverage programme.

Participants discussed six ‘impact areas’ or hotspots including Kiamunyi, a district which was once farmland but is now a hillside that has been rapidly urbanised in recent years. The area quickly changed from being a source of water retention and carbon sinks to hosting scenes of stormwater rushing down to the central business district, flooding the industrial zones.

Greening the industrial zone

For Susan and her colleagues, the exercise was more than just a means to an end. “We were taught the process of turning a city into an environment that can retain water through vegetation such as trees, grass, and parks instead of water overwhelming the city,” she explains. Moreover, the team witnessing the Nakuru Water and Sanitation Service Company demonstration project made them realise how such seemingly small and simple measures like rooftop gardens or shaded lawns could make industrial spaces cooler and more resilient.

Inspired by the WaL pilot at NAWASCO, the city’s water and sanitation company, KAM members have started greening their own premises, adding rooftop gardens, lawns, and trees, and donating seedlings to surrounding communities. “It’s a collective effort,” says Susan. “We even hire local labour to help plant them. When everyone takes part, the impact lasts.”

From threat to resource

The initiative is also helping Nakuru’s private sector to see opportunities in sustainability. Businesses are exploring ways to store rainwater and treat wastewater which will support new livelihoods around Lake Nakuru, where fishing and tourism are beginning to thrive. “When we take care of the environment, the economy benefits too,” Susan says.

For her, the workshops marked a shift in how Nakuru views water as a transition from a threat to a resource. “This project sells itself,” she explains, smiling. “It’s solving real problems like flooding and water shortages, but it’s also showing us how to turn those challenges into opportunities.”