The silted and non – functional Matinga dam was dug by the colonial government in 1955 with the aim of providing water for domestic use and improvement of the community livelihood systems and conservation of community natural resources for enhanced environmental management and utilization. The project stalled due to lack of dam management skills and funds since independence in the early 1980’s.

Matinga is an old colonial dam dug in 1955 by the colonial government. The Matinga dam and its associated Mutonguni hilltops and Kithyoko riverine ecosystem is an important, productive and unexploited ecosystem in Kitui County which extends from Mutonguni hills and borders the famous Yatta plateau at Matinga. Mutonguni hills are the main water catchment in the area. The size of the ecosystem is over 5,000 KM² and has human population of 221,126 people.

The Matinga dam has capacity to hold over 3 million m³ of water annually. The area is adjudicated as Mutonguni / Kauwi land parcel No. 3460 measuring 154 acres reserved for community development projects. This is in accordance to the Article 63 (2) (iii) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. The dam lies on 37⁰53’50.085’’E, 1⁰9’53.927’’S, River Valley – Ephemeral Musuu and Mathata joining to form Matinga/Kithyoko Tributary of Tana River System. Matinga dam area is a shared resource between three wards namely; Nguutani, Mutonguni and Kauwi in Mwingi West and Kitui West sub – counties. MERMA supported and organized the community members from the three wards to form Mumaki Water Resources Users Association (WRUA) with a focus of rehabilitating Matinga dam and its associated Mutonguni hilltops and Kithyoko riverine ecosystems.