The Catholic Diocese of Lodwar Turkana Water Project has an interesting start. After the late Fr. Bernhard Runhau, the then parish priest of Kakuma experienced his parishoner’s suffering due to the long distances they walked in search of water, he approached the then Bishop (Bishop John Mahon) to discuss the issue. Bishop Mahon authorised Fr. Bernhard to source funds to do water interventions. Fr. Bernard started the fund raising from his home country of Germany. Luckily enough, he met Misserior and they accepted to fund the project.

In 1982, the drilling equipment procured through misserior funds arrived in Turkana. The equipment was initially operated by German experts. The drilling rig started work at Kakuma parish. Due to Government policy, a team of geologists from the government were also engaged to do the hydrogeological survey. Through Misserior, Duba hand pumps manufacturer from Belgium were approached and they donated hand pumps for the intervention.

In the same year, after drilling a good number of boreholes and duba pumps installed, the pumps started breaking down. This necessitated the formation of a repair team. The then Bishop met with the Government water officer and the manager of TRP. The diocese took the task of sourcing for funds to form the PMU(Pump Maintenance Unit). The initial agreement was that the PMU team to be started by the diocese but later to be handed over to the government. However, this has never happened.

In the 3 drilling phases (1982-1990), 288 boreholes were drilled at a success rate of 45%. The low success rate was due to the low precision hydrogeological survey equipment available by then. After the drilling of the 288 boreholes, there has been drilling at a smaller scale from Turkana Water Project and other diocesan institutions. Through this, the diocese has realized close to 600 boreholes.

TWP has also been involved in training of community on leadership, hygiene and sanitation. They also facilitate formation of committees at the community and Environmental clubs in schools.

The department has 17members of staff and occasionally hires casual staff for some of the activities. The 17 members of staff are 2water technicians, 2social workers, 2solar technicians, 7plumbers, 1 driver, 1office assistant, 1storeman and 1watchman. The solar technicians are trained electrical technicians and among the plumbers are trained in installation, service and repair of wind-pumps. TWP has two Pump maintenance units (PMU).