Sessional Paper no. 1 of 2021 on National Water Policy.

This National Water Policy is developed in line with the mandate and mission of the Ministry responsible for water affairs and within the Constitutional framework providing the respect of the human rights to water, sanitation services, and a clean environment, and therefore aims at enhancing sustainable management of water resources, and further, at improving water harvesting and storage, moving so the water sector to the next level of development, in order to contribute to the National Goals, and realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals. This Policy focuses on the following objectives: strengthening sustainable water resource management; improving delivery of water supply services through progressive realisation of universal access to water and the human right to water; promoting the development of water harvesting and storage infrastructure; realising the delivery of sewerage and non-sewerage sanitation services; implementing a harmonised and constitutionally compliant regulatory framework for devolution of water functions and for the management of intergovernmental relations; strengthening water education, training, research and innovation; mainstreaming climate change considerations and disaster risk reduction throughout the water sector; mainstreaming gender considerations and youth interests in water sector, towards progressive attainment of gender equality; enhancing the use of alternative dispute resolution, including the Water Tribunal, to manage conflicts in the water sector; providing for the application of the following principles in the governance and management of water sector: precautionary principle; polluter pays principle; consumer protection; public participation.
The Policy defines the content of each objective and explains the statements and the specific strategies and Policy directions, including: water resources and surface water, protection and conservation of riparian land and wetlands; integrated land use and water resources management; transboundary water resources management; water access rights and related conflicts and disputes; water quality and pollution control; rainwater harvesting and watershed conservation; drought and floods mitigation; accessing land for development of the infrastructure for water harvesting; wastewater management.