Highlights of Water Quality Regulations, 2006 (Legal notice No. 121)
- Water Quality Regulations apply to water used for domestic, industrial, agricultural, and recreational purposes; water used for fisheries and wildlife purposes, and water used for any other purposes. Different standards apply to different modes of usage. These regulations provide for the protection of lakes, rivers, streams, springs, wells and other water sources.
- The objective of the regulations is to protect human health and the environment. The effective enforcement of the water quality regulations will lead to a marked reduction of water-borne diseases and hence a reduction in the health budget.
- The regulations also provide guidelines and standards for the discharge of poisons, toxins, noxious, radioactive waste or other pollutants into the aquatic environment in line with the Third Schedule of the regulations. The regulations have standards for discharge of effluent into the sewer and aquatic environment. While it is the responsibility of the sewerage service providers to regulate discharges into sewer lines based on the given specifications, NEMA regulates discharge of all effluent into the aquatic environment.
- The regulations provide for the creation of a buffer zone for irrigation schemes of at least fifty (50) metres in width between the irrigation scheme and the natural water body. Standards for irrigation water are given in schedule nine of the regulations.
- All firms or persons discharging effluent into the aquatic environment are required to submit quarterly discharge monitoring records to NEMA based on prescribed procedures of sampling and analysis.
- Everyone is required to refrain from any actions, which directly or indirectly cause water pollution, whether or not the water resource was polluted before the enactment of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) gazetted in 1999. It is an offence to contravene the provisions of these regulations with a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings.
|
|
