Make it compulsory for every household to harvest rain water

One of the effects of global warming is unreliability of climate and weather patterns. In the recent past, rainfall patterns have been erratic, resulting in water shortages. Agriculture, industrial and domestic water supply were affected. Water vending business in many urban centres in Kenya has boomed—but at a cost to public health.

The Government must put in place mitigating measures to enhance resilience in the water sector. The World Bank in 2014 defined resilience as “the ability of a system, entity or community to adopt to a variety of changing conditions and withstand shocks while maintaining its essential functions”.

Building plans

County governments, under the Urban Areas and Cities Act, 2010 and the County Governments Act, 2012, are mandated to plan and control development in areas under their jurisdiction.

County governments effect development control through approval of building plans, subdivision schemes, extension and renewal of leases, change and extension of use.

In 1977 Prof CS Ola, an authority in Planning Law, said: “As a road is to a motor vehicle and salt to food, so is development control to a development plan.”

One of the desirable outcomes of effective development control is establishment of sustainable human settlements that are healthy, aesthetically appealing, efficient in utilisation of space and characterised by harmonious rather than entropic interaction of activities.

Development control may be useful in management of water resources. The frequent water shortages experienced in human settlements cannot be entirely attributed to inadequate rainfall.

One of the main causes of this problem could be failure to harvest rain water. System losses due to inefficient infrastructure exacerbate the problem. Had county governments provided within their laws that building plans incorporate water harvesting and storage, the country would have benefited in several ways.

First, domestic water shortages would be mitigated against. Second, destruction caused by storm water would be addressed. Finally, incidences of waterborne diseases would decline.

It has been confirmed that if the formula commonly referred to as the Rational Method is applied, it would be possible for millions of Kenyans, who live in roofed houses, to have sufficient clean water.

Take, for example, Kiema Ivivi and his family of five who reside in Mulango Ward, Kitui County. The area receives a mean annual rainfall of 500mm (0.5m). His homestead has a total roof area of 100 square metres. Applying the above formula, Mr Kiema may from his roof harvest 30,000 litres of water per year! Instead, he walks long distances in search of water, which in most cases is polluted.

Kenya can ameliorate the effects of drought through development control and enforcement.

In sum, time and opportunity have arrived for county governments to formulate laws to the effect that before approval, building plans should be circulated to relevant authorities for rigorous scrutiny of water harvesting and storage capacity of proposed structures. This will result in several outcomes.

First, we shall progressively cultivate and adopt a water harvesting culture. Second, control of waterborne diseases through interventions that include chlorination will be possible. This will improve public health and stem spread of waterborne diseases. Third, we shall bequeath generations to come a clean environment which is their legitimate expectation under the Preamble and Article 62 of the Constitution.

Inherently disorderly

Such simple policy and legislative interventions are what we expect from county governments in view of the Committee of Experts on Constitutional Review which observed in its final report (2010): “Law is after all the product of the realisation that man is inherently disorderly if left to his devices. Law seeks to create order in society so that competing human interests do not lead to mutual annihilation which destroys the society itself.”

County governments should therefore enact legislation that compels us all to harvest and store rain water. This way, they will contribute to progressive realisation of Article 42 of the Constitution. Over to them.

Mr Mwangi is a registered physical planner.