23. Environmental Management and Co-ordination (Water Quality) Regulations, 2006

These Regulations provide for protection of water quality including measures of preventing water pollution.

· These Regulations were published vide Legal Notice No. 120 of 2006.

Quick Link: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/ln/2006/120/eng@2022-12-31

· The regulations provide for protection of sources of water for domestic use/ drinking water, water used for industrial purposes, water used for agricultural purposes, water used for recreational purposes, water used for fisheries and wildlife, and water used for any other purposes.

· Relevant in the context of affordable housing includes regulation 4(1) which provides that every person shall refrain from any act which directly or indirectly causes or may cause immediate or subsequent water pollution. Regulation 4(2) provides that no person shall throw or cause to flow into or near a water resource any liquid, solid or gaseous substance or deposit any substance as to cause pollution.

· Under regulation 5, all sources of water for domestic use must comply with the standards set out in the First Schedule to the Regulations. The First Schedule lists quality standards for sources of domestic water including permitted pH levels and maximum allowable levels of various minerals including ammonia, nitrate, suspended solids, fluoride, arsenic, lead, copper, and zinc among others.

· Regulation 6 is to the effect that no person shall discharge any effluent into the aquatic environment without a valid effluent discharge licence.

· Further, under regulation 6(b) no person shall abstract ground water or carry out any activity near lakes, rivers, streams, springs and wells that is likely to have an adverse impact on the environment without an EIA licence. Ground water is defined in the Regulations to mean the water of underground streams, channels, artesian basins, reservoirs, lakes and other bodies of water in the ground, and includes water in interstices below the water table. This is particularly relevant for housing given that most housing developments rely on borehole water which qualifies to be ground water that is being abstracted.