[1] The Dam constructed in 1953[2] holds back a reservoir with storage capacity of 98,000 m3 (79 acre⋅ft) and surface area of 350,000 m2 (86 acres).
It is a shallow lake with an average depth on only 2.76 m (9.1 ft)[1] Inflow is from the Motoine River, from rainfall, and waste water from the unsewered Kibera settlement.
[1] The sediment beneath the Dam consists of Middle and Upper Kerichwa Valley Tuffs.
[2] He asked that it be made part of the Nairobi River Basin Project funded by the United Nations Environment Program[3] with the tasks of removing the water hyacinth and solid waste to restore the aquatic ecosystem.
[2] Also associated encroachment would need the settlements to be pulled down (Kibera is the second biggest slum in Africa, with 700,000 inhabitants)[4] with an estimated cost of KSh.700 million/= (US$7.3 million)[2]