Enhancing Regulatory Framework for Sustainable Seawater De-salination: Lessons and Options for Kenya

Abstract

Amongst the most serious global challenges of our time, water scarcity is ranked highly. It is documented as a significant problem for many nations across the world in their struggle in the direction of sustainable life for humanity and environmental health. Currently, over a third of our populace worldwide live in countries where water-stress is prevalent. Nonetheless, water is recognized as a basic human right under both domestic and international laws and states all over the globe are obligated to work towards making sure that citizens of the country get access to sufficient quantities of clean water. In this case, seawater is viewed as one inexhaustible freshwater supply through seawater desalination. Despite this growing focus, legislative tools to support and regulate desalination projects and their waste discharges is not specific for such projects. This study provided an analysis of the regulatory approaches in desalination discharge employed in different jurisdictions and opportunities that exist to close the gaps in a bid to ensure sustainable implementation of desalination projects. The study was mainly desk-based and largely depended on library literature relying majorly on primary and secondary sources. Primary sources comprised international environmental law as well as municipal laws of the various case study jurisdictions while secondary sources included journals, and publications. It employed a descriptive and comparative study of the legislative framework and regulatory approaches employed in Kenya and relevant legislation that provides the governance framework in other Jurisdictions in the world where seawater desalination is practiced. The study concluded that there are no specific regulations in Kenya limiting the physical parameters and chemical concentrations of brine effluents resulting from desalination processes. The EMC (Water Quality) Regulations, 2006 which regulate waste water management do not cover Salinity; which is potentially hazardous and one of the parameters to be monitored and thus can generally be treated as any other toxic discharge to the environment with no specified limits. In most country regulatory requirements development of desalination projects require an Environmental Impact Assessment. Key lessons and options practiced in other jurisdictions and that Kenya can consider in enhancing her regulatory framework for seawater desalination discharge management were identified as strengthening of the EIA process for desalination technologies, introduction of standards for brine discharge limits that includes emission limit values and quality standards in the environment. Another key finding is the use of regulatory mixing zones in other jurisdictions which is a zone of initial dilution limited to a region around the outfall from desalination plants where the initial dilution takes place and which concept is applied to avoid high concentrated plumes over long distances and impacts with sensitive regions.