Introduction
In Kenya, low access levels and water sanitation and supply are characterized, especially in rural and urban slums. The nation experiences seasonal and regional differences that cause water supply to be scarce to a greater extent. The Kenyan water sector has been advocating for changes that would redefine the role and responsibilities of managing water services and its resources. In 2010, the nation unanimously agreed to change its Constitution. The changes had wide implications for the water sector. The aspect means that the Constitution acknowledges access to safe and clean water as one of the basic human rights that should be accessible by all the nation’s citizens. Therefore, the Constitution has authorized the concern of water sanitation and its supply service provision to the 47 counties.
In 2016, the Water Act was passed to align the water sector with the 2010 constitution objective of devolving the water sector being the ultimate guide. The 2016 Water Act was critical as it helped outline the related and shared functions between the national government and the county government in ensuring that all the citizens across the entire nation receive safe and clean water. The act recognizes farming and other sectors that depend on this precious commodity. However, the acts prioritize abreacted water to cater to all domestic use rather than being subjected to irrigation and any other uses.
Other key provisions of the 2010 constitution include affirmative action programs to ensure that even the marginalized groups in the nation receive safe and clean water. The Constitution, therefore, mandates the national government the role of ensuring that all the water resources, including the international waters, are well managed and utilized to better the lives of the citizens in the nation. The Constitution defines the role of the county government in connecting citizens to safe and clean water. Therefore, Kenyan laws recognize the following sectors to manage the supply and sanitation of all water resources.
The Water Resources Authority (WRA)
Managing water resources is key to ensuring constant water and sanitation supply. Therefore, the Kenyan Law recognizes the role played by the WRA in protecting, conserving, and regulating the usage of water from various sources. The WRA, on the other hand, has been enhancing this by formulating and enforcing the standards that ought to be utilized when using various water resources. All the policies and regulations that govern water consumption in Kenya are regulated and formulated by WRA. The authority also plans and issues water abstraction permits to ensure safe water across the nation. The authority is mandated with the role of setting and collecting permits and the fees levied to users.
Basin Water Resource Committee (BWRC)
The water resource team has also been offering some advisory services to the WBA to ensure the proper utilization of water resources and the protection of all the water catchment areas in the nation. Under the 2010 constitution and through the amendments done via the 2014 Water Act, the Catchment Area Advisory Committee that, previously acted at the regional level has been replaced with BWRC. The committee is mandated to manage all the catchment areas in the nation.
The Water Work Development Agencies
The 2016 Water Act came with some changes where the national public waterworks were mandated to ensure that nature is protected in the entire country. The national government funds the agency, and it is expected to make the necessary adjustments that will ensure that Kenyan benefits from nature, more so various water resources. The Water Act enacted in 2016 also provides a guideline for handling all national public resources and works. The agency has also been tasked with ensuring that the national government has provided the required support to the county government to ensure that its respective mandates are performed.
Therefore, the agency has been mandated to develop, maintain, and manage all the national public works to ensure that the citizens benefit from the natural resources available in the nation. The WWDA also played a critical role in establishing joint committees at county levels to ensure proper management of the water resources available in each region. All the technical services that enhance capacity building and proper utilization of water resources at the county level are carried about by the development agency as speculated in the 2016 Water Act.
Transformations of Clean Water Regulation
In 2002, Kenya started transiting from a highly centralized water system governance to another system demonstrating some sense of polycentric order. Local users imposed regional restrictions to reduce water wastage, affecting future developments. Therefore, the current regime includes several features that aim to ensure equitable sharing of water resources across the nation. For this reason, even independent groups in the nation are advised to enact their own rules on water usage in response to the current climatic changes. The transformation has played a critical role in defining the role of different stakeholders in water service delivery. Over the years, the government has been enhancing various transformations to guarantee safety and clean water to all the nation’s citizens. Some of these changes have seen the Ministry in charge of water facilities dealing with the art of creating policies and strategies aimed at mobilizing funds and coordinating all the water projects run by the government. The Ministry mandated with the role of taking care of all the water resources has transformed by dividing its managerial role to other institutions that are given roles and responsibilities to ensure that citizens in the nation receive safe and clean water. Some of the institutions that have played critical roles in transforming water management systems include:
Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI)
This is the highest managerial position as far as the management of water resources is concerned in Kenya as per the 2010 constitution and provisions of the 2016 Water Act. The Ministry is mandated to develop all the legislation, policies, and strategies to ease the art of managing water systems in the nation. The Ministry has also been mandated to coordinate and guide all the sectors related to irrigation and sanitation. The Ministry has the mandate of overseeing all the investment plans and resource mobilization done by the government.
The Service Regulatory Board (WASREB)
The role of the service regulatory board, as per the 2010 constitution, involves monitoring and regulating the provisions of water services in the entire nation. The 2016 Water Act mandated the service board with the role of issuing licenses to water service boards across the nation. On the hand, the licensed service boards play a critical role in ensuring that all citizens can easily access clean and safe water. The 2010 constitution has also mandated the service board to set the standards for water services. The service board also enhances the guidelines for the provision of water service.
The Water Service Board
Over the years, Kenyans have been complaining about water services’ efficiency and economic provision. However, since the establishment of the service board, the nation has experienced some positive transformations through the rehabilitation and replacement of infrastructure that has been curtailing the provision of safe and clean water in the entire nation. The 2010 constitution has also mandated the service board with the duty of contracting water service providers. Sewer facilities play a critical role in recycling water and preventing the accumulation of toxic in various catchment areas. The service board has been applying various water tariffs to ensure proper utilization of sewer services and leasing various water services.
Sewerage in the Urban Setting
The nation has been experiencing tremendous growth in various sectors. One sector that has been escalating the growth of the nation’s economy is the expansion of the urban centers. The expansion means that more people prefer to work in various urban centers rather than live in rural areas. The expansion and the increase in population have been posting the nation to sewerage and sanitation challenges in these urban centers. However, through the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the nation has been working towards attaining equitable waterborne sewerage collection facilities and treating water properly to prevent an outbreak of diseases associated with unsafe and untreated water. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation, under various service boards and stakeholders, has been intentionally strategizing and creating policies aimed at ensuring that all Kenyans can access safe and clean water.
The Ministry has been working towards ensuring effluent discharge and meeting various standards by 2030. Some of the strategic response that has enhanced transformation includes building and enlarging the sewerage systems in the nation to ensure that citizens can easily access clean and safe water. The art of establishing governing bodies as per the Constitution has been aiding the nation in improving access to sanitation and proper water supply. The 2010 constitution has mandated the water service board to ensure that all sewerage systems operate under the set standards. The Ministry has been recommending recycling various water resources intending to control the water use rate in society. This aspect has led to enacting rules and policies that guide the industrial organization on how they are supposed to direct their waste. Industries and large companies should operate under certain standards that recommend recycling waste products and avoiding activities that direct unsafe products in various water catchment areas. Although the urban population has been rising in Kenya, the guidelines and the standards put in place by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation as per the 2010 constitution have played a critical role in preventing the accumulation of toxic waste that could otherwise cause disease. Therefore, the Ministry has been playing a critical role in enacting policies and standards that aim to transform the art of accessing clean and safe water.
Potential Remedies for Clean Water Regulation in Kenya
Accessing clean water is key to enhancing public health in society. This is one of the guiding principles that has been vital in enacting various acts that govern the usage of water resources in Kenya. Although various rules and regulations have been governing the usage of water resources in the nation, accessing clean and safe water remains one of the major national challenges that should be addressed with haste. Some of the remedies that can be adopted include:
Enacting Rules to Govern Water for Industrial Effluent
Strengthening the rules that govern water usage and the release of waste products at the industrial level should be embraced. The current 2016 Water Act claims that only licensed organization should transfer their effluent to various catchment areas. A rule can be introduced to ensure that the effluent is properly treated. No organization should be allowed to direct its effluent to a catchment area without treating it first. The local authority approves organizations to release treated sewerage water in various catchment areas. However, once the approval is made, an organization fails to follow the latter’s direction. Therefore, more rules should be enacted, and a comprehensive follow-up should be done to ensure that the nations continue supplying clean and safe water to the public.
Water for Irrigation
Over the years, the nation has been experiencing various forms of climate change that have affected the agriculture sector to a considerable extent. Therefore, people have been turning to irrigation to advance their farming. Reports show that farmers use untreated water to carry out various farming activities. The aspect has raised concerns in society as people have developed conditions with known cases. This aspect means that new rules ought to be enacted to govern the usage of clean water in farming.
The citizens ought to be restricted from using untreated water for irrigation. Individuals should not be allowed to continue using waste for irrigation as this may cause an outbreak of diseases such as cholera. All small-scale and large-scale irrigation schemes should subject the water they utilize in farming to frequent testing to prevent outbreaks of diseases that can be transferred from plants to humans. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation should exercise its power conferred by the 2016 Water Act to enhance the proper management of natural water bodies. Farmers should not be allowed to abstract water from any water body. It has met all the standards set out by the Ministry.
The water in such catchment areas should also be subjected to frequent and effective testing to identify whether some microbes or pathogens can cause disease outbreaks in society. All the owners of any irrigation scheme should work on creating a buffer zone that should be at least 55 meters in width between the natural water body and the irrigation scheme. Failure to comply with these rules means breaking the law, and such irrigation schemes should be crossed and owners penalized. All the rules that govern irrigation schemes in the nations must be established within a new venture within the first 90 days of farming. Therefore, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation needs to be more proactive and conduct follow-ups among irrigation schemes to ensure that all the laid policies and guidelines are followed. Any irrigation scheme that does not comply with the rules should not be allowed to continue operating.
Water for Domestic Use
Drinking water should only be sourced from reliable sources. Society needs to cooperate with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to ensure a constant supply of clean and safe water for human consumption. Drinking water should be subjected to frequent testing to detect any microbe that might cause diseases in Kenya. Most families in the nation depend on boreholes and wells to access water for domestic use. However, fewer or no tests are subject to such water sources. The government should enact rules and regulations to ensure that such water is subjected to periodical testing to detect microbes early before humans consume them. Drinking water should always be treated and kept in clean containers.
The organization that supplies bottled drinking water should comply with all the standards set by the Ministry before they are allowed to supply water. The organizations should be subjected to periodical testing to identify whether they comply with the set standards. The licensing of these organizations should be subjected to a renewal process, and only the companies that meet a certain threshold of standards should be allowed to continue operating. The aspect will be critical in ensuring that all the organizations are supplying water for domestic use avail only safe and clean water safe for human consumption. Hefty fines should be imposed on an organization that supplies untreated or unsafe water for domestic use. If such cases are noted, the licenses of such organizations should be withheld permanently. Such moves will ensure that all Kenyans can access safe water for domestic use.
Conclusions
Using safe and clean water is key to boosting the health status of society. However, many citizens in Kenya have not been accessing safe water. Therefore, establishing a Ministry of Water and Irrigation and giving it some constitutional mandate was one of the best steps that Kenya took when implementing the new 2010 constitution. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has enacted various rules and regulations to ensure that Kenyans have access to clean and safe water. The 2016 Water Act has remained relevant as service boards, and agencies were established, and since then, governing the water systems in the society has been eased. Although the Ministry and the agencies and services boards have been enacting various policies and guidelines that ought to be followed, some areas cannot effectively access clean and safe water. In addition, there are cases where organizations have been directing waste products into various catchment areas, affecting society’s health. The government should strengthen its rules and acts to ensure that all irrigation schemes and organizations comply with the set standards. The Ministry should keep updating its policies to prevent any outliers that might affect society.
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