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Water Act No. 15/026 of 31 December 2015
Statement of Reasons
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is full of significant water resources and aquatic ecosystems, whose management, protection and development depend on new challenges for sustainable development, poverty reduction and climate change.
In addition, access to drinking water remains a challenge. It is therefore necessary to introduce new and efficient policies and management patterns, both at the resource level and at the public water service level, with a view to enhancing water, not only as an economic resource but also as a social asset, as one of the essential roles of water remains the preservation of life. To date, the legal arsenal of the water sector has been composed of scattered texts, the majority of which deal with water management, lakes and rivers, protection of sources, rivers, lakes and delimitation of the territorial sea. These texts are unadapted and have shortcomings in their applicability to the provisions of the Constitution in force. This Act is based on articles 9 and 48 of the Constitution. It also includes the provisions of articles 203, 16 and 204, point 26, relating to competing constitutional competences and those exclusively vested in the provinces; as much as it respects the universal principles of water resources management and public water service.
Its objectives are:
- Respond to the obligation prescribed to the State by articles 9 and 48 of the Constitution as recalled above; - Establishing the rules of sustainable and equitable water resources management;
- Set the rules of responsibilities for public water service and sanitation by adapting them to the current requirements of the country’s economic and social development;
- Determine the necessary instruments for the sound and balanced management of water heritage, using a multisectoral approach that takes into account current and future needs;
- To solve the problem of unadapted legal and institutional framework and the low access to drinking water;
- Protect the water resource and regulate its use;
- Making the sector efficient;
- To attract, through security measures, investors to the sector and promote national water emergence through the use of the public/private partnership formula.
In addition, it also specifically reinforces the requirements for an environmental and social impact assessment, prior to the concession and removal of water resources. It establishes a legal regime based on declaration, authorization and concession. It also establishes the principle of prior consultation of the Congolese people by way of reference for any transfer of fresh water outside the national territory. The legislation in force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo advocates the principles of decentralization, equitable access of all to natural resources, the disengagement of the State and the transformation of public enterprises. It therefore encourages private initiative in the socio-economic sector. These new dimensions allow the Democratic Republic of the Congo to redeploy its responsibilities in accordance with the new institutional landscape provided for in this Act. Significant innovations in this Act include:
- The emphasis on priority water uses and the government’s approach to further develop growth-bearing sectors; - Covering the water needs of all consumer categories; - The creation of a framework setting clear tariff rules according to the principles of truth of price, equality, fairness and non-transferability of charges;
- The establishment of a dispute settlement mechanism in the erection of certain acts in special criminal offences and their consequent repression for the effective application of the law;
- Consumer protection with regard to water potability;
- The obligation to protect the environment for all sector development projects.
- This Act is structured around 10 titles:
Title II : DE LA SOUVERAINETE, DES OBLIGATIONS DE L’ETAT ET DU DOMAINE PUBLIC DE L’EAU
Title III : DE LA GESTION DES RESOURCES EN EAU
Title V : DU SERVICE PUBLIC DEL’EAU
Part VI: DE LA PROTECTION DES ECOSYSTEMES AQUATIQUE
Part VII: DE LA GESTION DES CATASTROPHES
Part VIII: MECHANISM OF REGULATIONS
Title X: TRANSITIONAL, ABROGATOIRES AND FINAL PROVISIONS.
This is the general economy of this Act. Act The National Assembly and the Senate have passed, The President of the Republic enacts the Act, the following:
CHAPTER 1: OBJECT AND APPLIANCE CHAMP
Article 1 The purpose of this Act is to ensure the sustainable and equitable management of water resources consisting of groundwater and surface water, both continental and maritime, in accordance with articles 9 and 48 of the Constitution.
It defines the nature, development, protection and use regimes as an economic resource and interstate cooperation for transboundary lakes and rivers.
Article 2 The provisions of this Act apply to water resources within the territorial boundaries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as to water resources and structures related to their management.
These include:
(a) Rivers, rivers, streams and their natural or modified beds;
(b) Water sources with permanent or intermittent flow or flow and beds;
(c) Lakes, lagoons, natural and artificial ponds;
(d) Non-captured river water in a private domain;
(e) Underground water and aquifers; (f) Wastewater discharges;
(g) Emerged lands of rivers and lakes;
(h) Wet areas and areas where the presence of water, without being permanent, is regular;
(i) The sources, wells, drilling, water troughs and other water points assigned to public use or public service and their immediate protection perimeters, defined under this Act;
(j) Hydraulic works including dams, dams, locks and their dependencies;
(k) Irrigation, sanitation, drainage, aqueducts, pipes, derivations and water pipes;
(l) Tanks, wastewater treatment plants and, in general, hydraulic structures for public use or public service, as well as facilities and land that depend on them; (m) Marine waters.
CHAPTER 2: DEFINITIONS
Article 3 For the purposes of this Act:
1. Abbreviations: a pond, a built tank, a specially designed area to allow livestock to drink;
2. Water administration: a set of state structures and services at the central, provincial and local levels that are responsible, each according to its competences and powers, for the management and implementation of water policies;
3. Firming: an act by which the owner rents his facilities for exploitation by a public or private establishment for payment;
4. Protection area: space in which certain activities are regulated to protect and conserve the resources or facilities of the public water domain;
5. Protected area: geographically designated, delineated, regulated and managed area to achieve specific conservation objectives;
6. Agglomeration: an area in which the population and/or economic activities are sufficiently concentrated so that it is necessary to establish and operate an organized drinking water distribution system, or that it is possible to collect the residual urban water to transport it to a water purification plant or a final discharge point;
7. Hydraulic planning: a set of measures, works and facilities for the conservation, operation, use of water resources or protection of property and persons in relation to water-related risks;
8. Aquifer: land or rock layer, sufficiently porous and permeable containing an underground water table;
9. Sanitation: all interventions aimed at improving conditions, which in the physical environment of human life, influence or are likely to influence favorably the physical, mental or social well-being. In particular, it includes the evacuation of excreta, the collection and treatment of wastewater and rainwater, sewage, collection and disposal of waste of all kinds;
10. Authorization: legal act by which the administration allows a natural or legal person to exploit or use the water or sanitation of the public domain under certain conditions;
11. Hydrographic Basin: geographic area in which all surface waters converge through a network of watercourses and possibly lakes to a single outlet;
12. Capture: installation allowing the removal of surface or underground water;
13. Concession: contract between the State and a natural or legal person, public or private, allowing the State to exploit the public domain of water over a specified period of time;
14. Declaration: administrative formality with the competent authority to operate or use the waters of the public domain under certain conditions;
15. Public domain: a set of water resources, facilities and hydraulic structures whose management is exclusively under the sovereignty of the State and which are not subject to private ownership;
16. Domestic water: residual water from different domestic uses as well as rainwater collected on the private plot;
17. Groundwater: all waters under the surface of the ground;
18. Aquatic ecosystem: a dynamic complex formed of the communities of plants, animals, micro-organisms and their environment which, through their interaction, form a functional unit created by the existence of surface or underground water;
19. Aquatic species: animal, plant or micro-organisms living in water;
20. Eutrophication: an imbalance in an aquatic ecosystem due to excess mineral nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates from human activities;
21. Franc-bord: space left free on the edge and along a stream of water;
22. High background: space or domain above a watercourse;
23. Lower background: space or domain located downstream of a watercourse;
24. Sustainable water management: stewardship that allows by efficient and cost-effective technical means the return to the natural environment of a water whose qualities meet sanitary and environmental requirements;
25. Government: central government;
26. Master of work: a natural or legal person under public or private law, charged by the contracting authority to ensure the representation and defence of his or her interests at the stages of the definition, development, execution and receipt of the benefits, subject to the contract;
27. Master of work: contracting authority on whose behalf the execution of work or the provision of equipment is carried out
28. Protection Perimeter: area delimited around the capturing of surface water and natural water sources within which constraints are imposed on any natural or legal person in order to preserve the quality of water;
29. Peri-urban: agglomeration that is around an urban centre and is its suburbs;
30. Water plan: surface covered with water such as a lake, pond or part of river or sea;
31. Water pollution: introduction into the aquatic environment of any substance or organism that could alter the quality of water and create health risks, harm to terrestrial and aquatic fauna and flora, damage the accreditation of sites or hinder any other rational use of water;
32. Water removal: a continuous and long-term extract of a portion of national water resources;
33. Direct regulation: how a public service is managed directly by the public person whose service depends on the public service with its staff and its material and financial means;
34. Water resources: deposit or mass of natural water likely to be exploited for various purposes and subject to codified or regulated management;
35. Master outline: a plan setting the guidelines for water resource management and development;
36. Public Water Service: a set of actions including the production, transport and distribution of drinking water to the population;
37. Servitude: charge or space that strikes a private property for the benefit of another property or community. A servitude may be established by man or by law;
38. Natural water quality standards: physico-chemical characteristics of natural waters and the state of their biodiversity outside of pollution;
39. Wet area: stagnant or current water, coastal or located inside lands, in mountain, plateau or plain, natural or artificial, made of fresh water, marine, brine, acid or alkaline.
TITRE II : DE LA SOUVERAINETE, DES OBLIGATIONS DE L’ETAT ET DU DOMAINE PUBLIC DE L’EAU
CHAPTER 1: DE LA SOUVERAINETE
Article 4 The State has permanent sovereignty over water resources.
CHAPTER 2: THE OBLIGATIONS
Article 5 The state guarantees all Congolese people fair and equitable access to water resources and aquatic species. Article 6 The central authority, the provinces and the decentralized territorial entities shall ensure, within their respective competences and responsibilities, the missions of general interest necessary for the conservation, use and protection of water resources.
CHAPTER 3: DU DOMAINE DE L’EAU
Article 7 Subject to statutory exemptions, water resources and natural aquatic ecosystems are part of the public domain.
Article 8 The nomenclature of the waters of the public domain as defined in this Act shall be determined by a Minister's order with the management of water resources in his powers.
Article 9 The procedure for determining the dependencies of the public domain of water, in particular those of the watercourses, their free-boards and, where appropriate, their mobility zones, wetlands, fittings and works, referred to in section 2, is determined by a decree of the Minister having the management of water resources in his or her powers.
Article 10 When a private fund is classified in public domain outbuildings, as a result of a change in the boundaries of the public domain, compensation is provided in accordance with the specific legislation in this area.
TITRE III : DE LA GESTION DES RESOURCES EN
Article 11 Water resources management concerns continental, marine and transboundary waters.
CHAPTER 1: BASE PRINCIPLES
Section 1: Water Management Policy
Article 12 The Government defines the nation's policy on the rational and sustainable management of water resources. It develops management instruments at the national level, including the action plan and the master plans for watershed management and development.
Without prejudice to the essential requirements of environmental protection, it establishes the order of priority for the different uses and the standards and conditions for their implementation.
However, drinking water is a priority for any other use. A Minister's decision to manage water resources in his or her powers determines the terms and conditions of the order.
Article 13 The government, the provincial government and the urban, municipal, sector and chieftainment executive colleges take, each within the limits of its competences and powers, measures for the inventory of all water resources, their conversation, including wetlands, coastal areas and watersheds and sub-basins, as well as their protection, prevention and control of pollution. They adopt and implement appropriate policies, frameworks and programmes, including:
(a) Covering the water needs of the population;
(b) Satisfies or reconciles the requirements of agriculture, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, the extraction of mineral substances, industry, energy production, transport, tourism, leisure and other legally exercised human activity;
(c) preserve the quantity and quality of the water;
(d) Protect aquatic ecosystems;
(e) Addressing the needs of health, public safety, civil security and climate change issues;
(f) Ensure the participation of all relevant actors, including local communities, users, civil society and the private sector.
Article 14 The Government and the provincial government, each within its competence, establish an advisory body with the following tasks:
(a) Contribute to the definition of general objectives and guidance of national or provincial policy and water management planning;
(b) Ensuring an integrated, participatory and collaborative heritage management of the sector involving all stakeholders:
(c) Formulate or consider any proposals for the conservation, development, use and protection of water resources;
(d) Please provide advice on basic water resource development options; e) Facilitate coordination and synchronization of sectoral policies of different ministries;
(f) Conciliate parties on conflicts related to hydrographic sets. A decree or a deliberate provincial decree in the Council of Ministers sets out the organization and operation of it.
Article 15 A deliberative decree in the Council of Ministers sets up a public institution responsible, including:
(a) The development of water development and management patterns by basin or subbassin;
(b) The collection and analysis of hydrometric and hydrological information;
(c) Planning, implementation, management and monitoring of water resource management and development facilities;
(d) The value of water as an economic resource;
(e) The determination of natural water quality standards appropriate to each basin or subbasin;
(f) The production, management and dissemination of information on water resources and hydraulic developments;
(g) Participation in the preparation of water resources management tools;
(h) Support to the basin or sub-basin committees referred to in section 16 of this Act, as well as the bodies established by the provinces and decentralized territorial entities for water management and development;
(i) Financial support for the implementation of public water service projects in rural areas.
Article 16 The government and the provincial government are organizing basins or sub-basins for their management, development and monitoring of water resources, basin or sub-basin committees that are technical and advisory bodies. Basins and sub-basins that cover more than one province are the responsibility of the government.
Those who are fully circumscribed within a province are the responsibility of the provincial government.
Article 17 The provincial government is developing and implementing a provincial water resource management plan that adapts the national plan to its specificities.
Article 18 Without prejudice to the prerogatives recognized by law, any real estate custodian must:
(a) A register indicating the sources, lakes and watercourses that have been the subject of development. He mentions for each of them the main features, the real property rights granted, the former rights of regular riparianity exercised, the works of art and the facilities associated with them, as well as the land to which they benefit;
(b) An annexed register, on behalf of the encumbered funds and on the presentation of the contract or judgment, shall carry out all legal servitudes. Registration is terminated when the servitude is lost or extinguished. The registry and the annexed registry can be accessed without moving them to the Conservative offices. It may issue excerpts at associated costs.
Section 2: Water pollution
Article 19 Any release of invasive alien wastes, substances, organisms or biological species that may pollute, alter or degrade the quality of both continental and marine surface or groundwater, adversely affect their biological resources and coastal ecosystems, and endanger health. Water discharges consist of any discharge, effluent, discharge, immersion, infiltration and direct or indirect deposit of solid, liquid or gaseous substance.
They are subject to the prohibition, declaration or authorization regime. A deliberate decree in the Council of Ministers determines the nomenclature of these releases, the physical, chemical and biological criteria and the conditions and conditions for the management and control of these releases.
CHAPTER 2: CONTINENTAL
Section 1: General rules
Rule 20 No one shall, except for derogation, prevent the free flow of surface and groundwater or change its course. The derogation procedure shall be determined by order of the Minister with water resources management in his or her powers.
Section 2: Legal regimes
Article 21 Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2 of this Law, continental waters are subject to one of the following legal regimes: - The declaration; - Authorization; - The concession.
Paragraph 1. De la déclaration
Rule 22 Hydraulic developments that do not pose a threat of pollution or adverse impacts on water and aquatic ecosystems are subject to the pre-reporting regime with the local authority.
It is also subject to declaration, subject to the restrictions of this Act, the use of water for the purpose of construction or maintenance of buildings, road works and state, local or private public infrastructure.
Paragraph 2: Authorization
Article 23 Hydraulic developments are subject to the prior authorization regime, in general the facilities, structures, works, works and activities carried out by any natural or legal person, public or private, which, as the case may be:
(a) Surface or groundwater sampling for industrial, commercial, artisanal, storage or distribution of drinking water;
(b) A modification of the water source regime;
(c) Water eutrophication;
(d) An obstacle to the circulation on the water. This authorization is granted, as the case may be, by the government, the provincial government or the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity, after the advice of the basin committee or sub-basin concerned. A decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers determines the modalities.
Article 24 No authorization or declaration shall be submitted to the public domain for domestic or scientific research purposes.
It is considered as domestic use, any removal of water intended exclusively for the satisfaction of the needs of natural persons and for the production of family or family or animal.
For scientific research purposes, any levies recognized as such by the Minister who has scientific research in his or her powers after the advice of the provincial governor.
Paragraph 3: From the concession
Rule 25 The right to permanent use of public water for the purposes of general interest, including the production of electrical energy and the distribution of portable water by network, as well as agricultural, mining, industrial and tourism activities, is granted, as the case may be, by the government or the provincial government to any natural or legal person, public or private law by a concession contract. The concession contract is revocable within the limits determined by this Act and its enforcement measures.
Rule 26 Is eligible for the concession of water resources, any natural person of Congolese nationality or Congolese law who meets the following conditions:
(a) Have a residence or residence known in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
(b) Present proof of registration or trade register, if it is a person engaged in trade;
(c) Rationale of proven technical and financial capacity for its development.
Rule 27 The concession may cover all or part of a stream, a natural or artificial lake and underground aquifers.
Rule 28 The right to use water and the development of hydraulic structures are limited by the obligation not to infringe the rights of residents, to restore water so that it is reusable and to respect the integrity of the environment and aquatic ecosystems.
Rule 29 Any hydraulic or water management measures are subject to a pre-public inquiry. The purpose of the public inquiry is to:
(a) To inform the public in general and the local population in particular about the development or measurement;
(b) To collect information on the nature and extent of rights that may be held by third parties on the area affected by development or measurement;
(c) To collect the evaluations, suggestions and counter-proposals in order to allow the competent authority to have all the necessary elements for its decision.
Rule 30 The grant of the concession is subject to an environmental and social impact assessment, along with its duly approved management plan. This study includes climate, hydrological and hydrogeological data as well as the state of water retention, removal and derivation. Article 31 Every licensee of the concession contract shall be obliged to:
(a) Use water rationally and economically;
(b) To observe the conditions set out in the constitutive act of the law;
(c) To respect the rights of other water users;
(d) To ensure the safety of discharge waters and water installations on riparian ecosystems;
(e) Always monitor water quality.
Rule 32 Water users may establish themselves as a local water association or association of users, in accordance with the law, for the management, development, protection of water resources and protection against disasters.
These associations may be declared public utility by the authorities concerned, even if the concession of use of the water granted has not been declared public utility.
Rule 33 The right to use water is dessible and transmissible. The assignee is required to meet the eligibility requirements set out in section 26 of this Act. The assignee and concessionaire shall, with the competent authority, declare the transfer for validation within six months from the date of assignment, subject to a penalty of termination.
Rule 34 Any assignment is subject to the current tax system.
Rule 35 The use of conceded waters is subject to the payment of a royalty which, as the case may be, is determined by the government or the provincial government.
Rule 36 The maximum duration of the concession is twenty-five years renewable. At the end of the term, if no application for renewal has been submitted to the administration, the concessionaire is required to charge the premises in good condition.
If not, the administration will rehabilitate the premises at the dealer’s expense.
Rule 37 The concession may be cancelled or amended with compensation:
(a) In the interest of public safety, where such withdrawal or modification is necessary for drinking water;
(b) To prevent or stop floods or threats to public security;
(c) In the event of a major threat to the aquatic environment, where the environments are subject to critical hydraulic conditions not compatible with their preservation.
Rule 38 The concession may be cancelled at any time, without compensation, after a stay addressed to the interested party in writing:
(a) In case of loss of one of the eligibility conditions;
(b) If the object for which it was granted did not have a start of execution within two years;
(c) When the installation or work is abandoned or is no longer subject to regular maintenance;
(d) In the event of a breach of the conditions prescribed in the contract.
Rule 39 A deliberate decree in the Council of Ministers sets out the modalities for the execution of sections 37 and 38 of this Act.
Section 3: Protection of continental waters
Paragraph 1. Bondage
Rule 40 The watersheds of a watercourse or lake are encumbered, on each shore, of a public utility servitude of 100 metres from the shores, known as the free access servitude, designed to allow the mobility of curage and maintenance equipment and the administration of water to install means of signage, measurement and survey.
Rule 41 The holder of a real real property right or any person who has the enjoyment of a encumbered fund of servitudes is required to refrain from any act that could harm the object for which the servitude was established.
Rule 42 The lower funds, known as bond funds, are required, to the higher, so-called dominant funds, to receive the waters that flow naturally.
The holder of a real real real property right on the bottom serving cannot raise obstacles that prevent this flow.
The holder of a real property right on the dominant background can do nothing that aggravates the servitude of the lower bottom.
Rule 43 Any person may, in order to evacuate the waters on his or her bottom, conduct them underground or open-air through the land that separates the bottom from a lake, watercourse or any other waterway.
In the event that the passage could be made through different funds, the choice will focus on the one that would cause the least possible damage.
Rule 44 When by drilling or underground work, an occupant raises waters from his or her bottom, the holder of law on the lower bottom is required to receive them.
However, the latter is entitled to compensation in the event of damage resulting from the discharge servitude, in accordance with the law.
Rule 45 A joint decree of ministers with land affairs and urban planning in their responsibilities sets out the conditions and modalities for the establishment of the above servitudes, the rights of the State or the concessionaire of the fund to which the servitude is due, and the causes and modalities of the termination of these servitudes.
Paragraph 2: Protective areas and perimeters
Rule 46 Protective areas are established around sources, watercourses or parts of watercourses, dam restraints, lakes, mares, groundwater capture zone and, in general, areas of water intended for at least partially, human or animal consumption.
These areas are also established to protect areas for the recharging of groundwater. For the purpose of capturing consumption water, protection areas, as a measure of public safety, are mandatory.
Rule 47 There are three types of protection perimeters:
(a) The immediate scope of protection;
(b) The close protection perimeter;
(c) The remote scope of protection.
The limits of these perimeters are determined, as the case may be, by provincial decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers or by decision of the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity.
They may be amended if new circumstances require it.
Rule 48 The immediate protection perimeter corresponds to the environment close to the location where the capture is carried out.
Its main function is to prevent the deterioration of works and to avoid any spill of polluting substances in the immediate vicinity of the capture.
Without prejudice to the provisions of article 38 of this Law, the funds that are part of this perimeter fall into the State domain.
Rule 49 Any deposit, installation or activity of a nature that directly or indirectly harms the quality of the water or renders it unfit for consumption are prohibited within the close protection perimeters.
The prohibition includes the drilling of operating wells, the extraction of mineral substances and the deposition or spread of any substance that is at risk of toxicity, such as chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers, garbage, immondice, detritus, manure and hydrocarbons.
Rule 50 Exterior areas of protection are established around the points of the water captures and within which deposits or activities are regulated in order to prevent the pollution hazards they present for the collected water.
Section 4: Water transfer
Rule 51 Any transfer of surface or groundwater within or outside the national territory is subject to a screening environmental and social impact assessment, along with its duly approved management plan.
Rule 52 Within the national territory, the transfer of water is incorporated in the master plan of the hydrographic set or in the master plans for the associated assemblies prior to its approval by decree of the Minister with the management of water resources in his or her powers.
Rule 53 Any transfer of fresh water from the national territory to the territory of another State is subject to the prior agreement of the Congolese people consulted by referendum in accordance with article 214, paragraph 2, of the Constitution.
CHAPTER 3: MARITIMES
Rule 54 Any immersion of noxious and/or radioactive substances that may endanger human health, harm biological resources, marine fauna and flora, damage the approvals or hinder any other legitimate uses of the sea and territorial waters is prohibited.
Rule 55 Under section 54 of this Act, immersion means any deliberate discharge into the sea and territorial waters of substances and materials from or through any installation or craft other than:
(a) The rejection that results incidentally or as a result of the normal march of ships, ships and aircraft or their equipment;
(b) The discharge from industrial activities at sea;
(c) The deposit of substances and materials for purposes other than their only disposal provided that it is not incompatible with the provisions of this Act and its enforcement measures.
Rule 56 The prohibition referred to in section 54 of this Act is not applicable:
(a) Discharges at sea in the context of oil pollution control operations carried out by the competent national authorities or by any person authorized by them;
(b) The spills caused by a case of force majeure.
CHAPTER 4: TRANSBOUNDARY
Rule 57 The State concludes with the watercourses and cross-border rivers with bilateral or multilateral agreements or other arrangements in order to define mutual relations in the use, development and protection of water resources and aquatic ecosystems in a fair manner. In particular, this cooperation aims at:
(a) The exchange of information and data;
(b) Integrated and sustainable management of transboundary waters;
(c) Implementation of joint programmes and projects and bi or multilateral shared water management structures;
(d) Capacity-building;
(e) Coordination of actions to serve common objectives and interests in regional and international water resource management and protection forums. These agreements also address the conduct of emergencies or the prevention, control and reduction of pollution that may have a cross-border impact.
TITRE IV : DES USAGES DE L’EAU
CHAPTER 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS
Rule 58 Without prejudice to the essential environmental requirements, the use of water is governed by a priority order as follows:
- Use of water for domestic purposes for consumption, hygiene and other household needs;
- Use of water by municipalities and communities for the purposes of their functions in particular concerning public health, hygiene and sanitation;
- The use of water for energy production;
- The use of water for industrial activity;
- Use of water for navigation and transport purposes;
- Use of water for sport, recreation and tourism purposes.
CHAPTER 2: OTHER PROVISIONS
Section 1: Consumption water
Rule 59 Any natural or legal person, public or private, responsible for the production, transport or distribution of the consumption water, shall ensure that the water thus produced, transported and distributed complies with the potability standards.
It sets up adequate internal water quality monitoring mechanisms.
An order of the Minister with the public water service in his or her powers:
- Fixes the control measures, the conditions and conditions of their application according to various types of installation, their capacity and the context in which they are established. These measures, in particular, cover the periodicity of controls;
- Determines procedures for the accreditation of methods used to make drinking water for consumption.
Rule 60 A joint decree of Ministers with public health and public water services, respectively, determines the conditions and procedures for the accreditation of consumer water quality control bodies.
Rule 61 In the event of difficulties in supplying the population with drinking water, the provincial government or the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity, as the case may be, regulates the use of it during the period under the conditions and in accordance with the regulatory terms defined jointly by the ministers with the public water service and the management of water resources in their responsibilities.
Rule 62 The provincial government or the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity, as the case may be, may require the arrest and rehabilitation of defective structures and the strengthening of water quality control.
Article 63 The administration in charge of the public water service, following the advice of the water resource management administration, shall, by regulation, determine the procedures for the accreditation of the consumption water capture sites and projects according to various types of installation, capacity and context in which they are established.
Section 2: From irrigation
Rule 64 The holders of the right to use public water on agricultural land, including livestock, are responsible for the rational and optimal development of water resources under this right.
Rule 65 The technical standards and conditions for the implementation, operation and maintenance of irrigation and related drainage facilities, are regulated by the agriculture administration, following the advice of the water resource management administration.
Section 3: Hydroelectricity
Rule 66 Without prejudice to the laws and regulations relating to hydroelectric facilities, the water resources management administration provides its opinion on any authorization to establish or extend hydroelectric and geothermal sites.
Section 4: Fisheries and fish farming
Rule 67 In public waters, fisheries and fish farming, including concessions of exclusive fishing and fish farming rights, are governed by existing legislation and regulations. On the one hand, the administrations responsible for fisheries and fish farming and, on the other hand, the environment and the management of water resources provide the guardianship of these activities.
Section 5: Industrial water
Rule 68 Without prejudice to the laws and regulations of the environment and industrial facilities, any authorization for the establishment or extension of industrial units using the waters of the public domain requires the prior notice of the administration in charge of water resources management.
Section 6: Navigation, tourism and leisure
Rule 69 Without prejudice to the regulation of navigation, tourism and leisure on rivers and lakes, any use of water in the public domain for these purposes requires the prior notice of the administration in charge of water resources management.
TITRE V : DU SERVICE PUBLIC DE L’EAU
CHAPTER 1: GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Rule 70 The public water service is the responsibility of the central, provincial and decentralized territorial authority, each within the limits of its competence and powers.
Article 71 The Government defines the national policy of the public water service. It ensures its implementation with the provincial government and the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity.
This policy is consistent with the principles of equality and equity among users, continuity and adaptation of services to changing needs.
Rule 72 The provincial government and the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity shall, within the limits of their respective powers and responsibilities, assume the responsibilities of the contractor.
The owner is responsible for the development, rehabilitation and extension of facilities and services.
It ensures that all measures necessary for their protection, operation and maintenance are implemented.
Rule 73 In the case of self-sustaining public water supply networks, water sources and water points and point sampling facilities, in particular wells and drilling with or without manual pump, the responsibility of the owner is vested in the user associations or local water committees.
A provincial decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers sets out the terms and conditions of execution.
Rule 74 The public water service is open to any natural or legal person.
Rule 75 The government, by decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, organizes the authority for regulating the public water service with the following tasks:
1. Ensure compliance by industry operators with the conditions for the execution of concession contracts, declarations and authorizations;
2. Follow the application of standards and standards by operators and operators of the public water service;
3. Establish the terms of reference for the allocation of concessions and any normative document within the public water service, alone or with the collaboration of the basin committees, sub-bassin and local water committees;
4. To proceed with the prior conciliation of disputes between operators on the one hand and, on the other hand, between operators and consumers of the public water service, before eventually seizing justice;
5. Determine and follow the rules and procedures for fixing the elements of the price structure on the basis of which the Minister with the national economy in his or her powers and the Minister with the public water service in his or her powers establish their interdepartmental order set out in section 86;
6. Ensure that rates do not exceed authorized maxima.
Rule 76 The provincial government organizes a branch that is responsible for the development of water services. A deliberated provincial order in the Council of Ministers determines the modalities of its operation.
Rule 77 The decentralized territorial entity or a group of decentralized territorial entities, if purchased, creates a structure for the realization of a public water service structure.
CHAPTER 2: MANAGEMENT CONVENTIONS OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE
Rule 78 The province is the decentralized territorial entity, owners, and is not authorized to operate the public water service in direct control. Public or private companies and institutions, or user associations, masters, provide services, management and maintenance of facilities under management conventions.
The province and the decentralized territorial entity, each within the limits of its competence and responsibilities, may delegate the master’s work for the development of facilities under management conventions.
Rule 79 The public water service management conventions cover different modes: concession, charter or stewardship, as well as any variant or combination of these three modes.
The Convention for the Management of the Public Water Service defines its purpose, duration, territorial basis and mutual obligations.
A notebook is attached to it.
A provincial order specifies the types of management agreed upon, the procedures and conditions of allocation, and the procedures for regulating and controlling the public water service in accordance with the national water policy.
Rule 80 Any natural or legal person, public or private, responsible for the provision of drinking water, shall ensure that water complies with the standards of potability. It puts in place adequate internal means to monitor its quality.
A decree of ministers with public health and the determination of standards in their responsibilities sets the standards for water potability.
Article 81 In rural and peri-urban environments, the management of public water services may be ensured by an association of users with legal personality.
Rule 82 The management associations of a public water service receive royalties for the provision of services, the monitoring, maintenance and use of the works and facilities they take the initiative and/or manage.
Rule 83 In the event of a failure of the manager, the owner takes steps to replace it. In the absence of the replacement, the master of work may, on an exceptional basis, carry out the operation on a direct basis whose duration may not exceed twelve months.
CHAPTER 3: THE PRICE OF THE UAE PUBLIC SERVICE
Rule 84 The public water service is accessible to all.
It is not free. Its price is determined by a tariff. Water consumption rates are calculated in a transparent manner to cover all costs incurred by their managers, but not exceed the authorized costs.
Rule 85 Water tariffs are fixed according to the principles of truth of prices, equality, fairness and non-transferability of charges, which can be audited.
The truth of prices is that the rates reflect all costs including operating costs incurred for water consumers.
These costs are clearly and transparently recorded and verified by the regulatory authority.
Equality is that the rates represent, for each consumer category, the costs associated with its water supply.
Fairness is that rates are considered acceptable for each consumer category. Non-transferability is that the rates reflect the structure of costs incurred by different levels of consumption.
Rule 86 A joint decree of Ministers with the public water service and the economy respectively in their powers determines the rules and procedures for establishing and revising the tariffs applicable by water service operators.
Rule 87 The new tariffs are proposed by the operator to the regulatory authority of the public water service, which, after analysis and advice, submits them, within fifteen days, to the ministers with the economy and public water service in their duties.
In the absence of a duly reasoned notice to the contrary, and after this period, the rates proposed by the operator are submitted directly to the Ministers for decision.
The inter-ministerial decision shall be deemed to have been granted, unless duly substantiated opposition by one of the Ministers within 30 days of receiving proposals from the water sector regulatory authority, or directly from the operator as appropriate.
The authorized rates are published in the official newspaper by the regulation authority of the public water service.
Rule 88 Any sale of water is charged on the basis of actual consumption taken by calibrated meters and in good working condition.
Any billing is prohibited.
Rule 89 The provincial government and the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity apply the pricing as defined in section 86 of this Act.
CHAPTER 4: DE L’ASSAINISSEMENT DES AGGLOMERATIONS
Rule 90 The government, the provincial government and the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity are responsible for the remediation of agglomerations in the area of waste and rainwater disposal.
Rule 91 Remediation of agglomerations includes work, works and measures to ensure the rapid and complete evacuation of rainwater and domestic and industrial wastewater that can cause harm.
It also incorporates their treatments and possible recycling in conditions that can meet the requirements of public health, the preservation of the water resource and the environment.
Rule 92 In agglomerations with a network of collective sanitation, it is mandatory to connect to the sewerage of any dwelling or establishment that rejects water.
The conditions and deadlines for the application of the provisions of this article shall be fixed by regulation.
Rule 93 It is prohibited to introduce any solid, liquid or gaseous material to the sanitation and drainage facilities that may affect the health of the operating personnel, cause degradation or hinder the operation of the processing and disposal facilities.
Rule 94 Is subject to the prior authorization of the local manager of the public remediation service, the connection to the public remediation network for wastewater other than domestic wastewater.
In the event that, in a raw state, wastewater is likely to affect the proper functioning of the public sanitation network and sewage facilities, their pre-treatment is mandatory.
Rule 95 In areas where habitat is dispersed or in agglomerations not equipped with a collective sanitation network, sewage and rainwater is discharged through individual evacuation facilities.
Standards for these facilities and follow-up measures are defined by provincial decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers.
Rule 96 The management of the public remediation service may be entrusted in whole or in part to any natural or legal person, public or private under the conditions set out in sections 78 and 79 relating to the Convention for the Management of the Public Service of Drinking Water.
Rule 97 A deliberate decree in the Council of Ministers sets out the standards, responsibilities and conditions of the organization, development, management, operation and financing of the public sanitation and waste management service.
PART VI: PROTECTION OF AQUATICAL ECOSYSTEMS
Rule 98 Without prejudice to the provisions of the law, species of fauna and flora are protected in the wild in the waters at all stages of their biological cycle.
Rule 99 Every work built in the bed of a watercourse maintains a minimum flow guaranteeing aquatic life. When implanted in a watercourse frequented by migratory species, it must also be equipped with crossing devices.
Rule 100 Any classified facility whose effluents are discharged into a water plan or a tablecloth, in addition to the direct controls of pollution, performs self-monitoring of the quality of these effluents under the conditions specified by the competent authority which, at the same time, validates self-monitoring as a result of a control.
Article 101 Prohibited or, where appropriate, regulated for public interest, actions that may affect the balance of aquatic ecosystems or affect their biological diversity in wetlands of particular importance and/or in protected areas.
An order of the Minister having the management of water resources in his or her powers sets out the terms and conditions for the application of this section.
TITRE VII : DE LA GESTION DES CATASTROPHES
Rule 102 Where unforeseen or exceptional events affect water resources, including drought, pollution or flooding, the government, the provincial government and the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity, each within the limits of its competence and responsibilities, shall take appropriate action on the case.
A deliberate decree in the Council of Ministers determines the classification of disasters.
Rule 103 In the event of a finding of non-potability water supply, the provincial government or the executive college of the decentralized territorial entity shall, without delay, proceed to the cessation, rehabilitation or modification of defective structures and to the strengthening of water quality control.
Rule 104 In the case of damages or accidents occurring in areas under national jurisdiction to any equipment, vehicle, ship, aircraft, or platform carrying or having on board harmful, dangerous or hydrocarbon substances and which may constitute a serious and imminent danger to the shoreline, continental waters or related interests, the owner shall continue to take all necessary measures to put an end to these hazards and, where appropriate, In the event that such a stay does not produce the expected effects within the specified time limit or, in the event of an emergency, the competent authority shall enforce the necessary measures for the owner’s costs, risks and risks.
Rule 105 In the event of an event on board a ship carrying dangerous, toxic or polluting goods that are in the vicinity or within the waters under national jurisdiction, the master is required to report it when the event is likely to pose a threat to water and ecosystems pollution.
An order of the department having the environment in its powers sets out the terms and conditions for the application of this section.
PART VIII: REGULATION MECHANISM
Rule 106 Conflicts relating to disputes over the use of water resources are only admissible before the courts if they have been previously subject to conciliation proceedings, at the initiative of one of the parties before the body provided for in articles 14 and 75 of this Act.
Rule 107 The conciliation procedure interrupts the limitation period provided for in common law upon receipt of the request for conciliation by the body provided for in articles 14 and 75 of this Act.
In the event of non-conciliation, the application shall be filed by the most diligent party before the competent court within a maximum period of three months from the date of receipt of the notice of non-conciliation.
Rule 108 Any natural or legal person, any representative association of local communities, or any registered national non-governmental organization working in the areas of environmental protection, water resources management or public water service, may be brought to justice against any violation of the provisions of this Act or its enforcement measures, or any breach of the provisions of international agreements and conventions ratified by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which cause direct or indirect damage to the collective interests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Rule 109 Without prejudice to the prerogatives recognized to the officer of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and to the judicial police officers of general jurisdiction, the offences under this Act are sought and found by the officials and sworn officers of the water, public water service and/or sanitation administration.
Rule 110 It is punishable by a criminal servitude of one year to five years and a fine of one million Congolese francs to five million Congolese francs or one of these penalties only, one or more substances whose action or reaction result or are likely to cause, even provisionally, harmful effects on health or damage to aquatic ecosystems. The penalty above is from five million Congolese francs to five billion Congolese francs when it comes to effluent from a classified facility. As discharges or effluents of foreign origin are presumed to be dangerous, the applicable servitude penalty may not be less than ten years and the fine to a thousand billion Congolese francs, without the possibility of choice between the two penalties.
Rule 111 A fine of one million Congolese francs shall be imposed to fifty million Congolese francs, any person who collects water or constructs hydraulic works without prior declaration in accordance with this Act.
Article 112 A fine of fifty million Congolese francs shall be imposed on one billion Congolese francs, any person who collects water or constructs hydraulic works without prior authorization in accordance with this Act. The judge may order the offender’s removal at the expense of the infrastructure set up and the rehabilitation of the premises.
Article 113 It is punishable by a criminal servitude of one year to three years and a fine of ten million Congolese francs to one hundred million Congolese francs or one of those penalties only, any person who violates the prohibitions and requirements established within a scope of protection of capture. The judge may order the termination of the work or the seizure of the facilities and the rehabilitation of the premises.
Article 114 It is punishable by a criminal servitude of one year to three years and a fine of one million Congolese francs to ten million Congolese francs or only one of these penalties, any person who has been built or carried out work at the expense of the servitudes imposed by this Act. The judge may order the destruction of facilities or works and the rehabilitation of the premises.
Rule 115 Without prejudice to the provisions of common law on civil liability, is punishable by a criminal servitude of one year to three years and a fine of five million Congolese francs to five hundred million Congolese francs, any person who provides water without potability standards.
Article 116 It is punishable by a criminal servitude from ten years to twenty years and a fine of five hundred million Congolese francs to one billion Congolese francs or one of those penalties only, anyone who destroys or sabotages works of capture, treatment and distribution of water. If this act causes death or serious injuries without intent to give them, the perpetrator shall be punished in accordance with the Criminal Code.
Article 117 It is punishable by a criminal servitude of three months to six months and a fine of one million to five hundred million Congolese francs or one of these penalties only, anyone who interrupts the provision of water to consumers without valid reason.
Article 118 It is punishable by a criminal servitude from six months to twelve months and a fine of five hundred thousand Congolese francs to five million Congolese francs or one of those penalties only, anyone who commits:
- Fraud in water consumption or fraudulent connection;
- At the destruction of counter seals or damage of connection and counting equipment placed in users’ facilities.
Rule 119 It is punishable by a penalty of criminal servitude from ten years to twenty years and a fine of two hundred and fifty million Congolese francs to five hundred million Congolese francs or one of these penalties only, anyone who promotes or causes, on any grounds whatsoever, any transfer of fresh water outside the national territory to the territory of another State.
Rule 120 Without prejudice to the disciplinary sanctions provided for in the legislation in force, it shall be punished with the same penalties as those provided for in articles 110 to 119 of this Act, any public official of the State who has facilitated or covered the commission of these offences.
Rule 121 Where the same act constitutes both an administrative breach and an offence under this Act, the author shall, without prejudice to the application of the penalties provided for, and subject to a stay, be liable to one of the following administrative penalties:
- The suspension of the right to operate;
- Termination of the contract;
- The withdrawal of the title;
- The ban on exercising in the sector.
- The measures referred to in the above paragraph may be the subject of a waiver appeal to the administrative courts.
PART X: TRANSITIONAL, ABROGATOIRES AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 122 The classified facilities that exist before this Act comes into force have a period of twenty-four months from its promulgation to comply with this Act.
Article 123 The rights to collect and manage water resources acquired prior to the coming into force of this Act shall be in accordance with the provisions of this Act within twelve months of its promulgation.
The competent authority has three months to reserve a follow-up to the application for compliance. After this period, these rights are deemed to be in compliance.
Rule 124 Any owner of a construction, fence or plantation existing in the encumbered areas of a servitude or erected in contradiction with the prohibitions and requirements relating to the scope of protection, shall have a period of twelve months, as of the publication of the measures of application of this Act, to demolish it.
When construction, fence or planting is covered by a legal real estate title, the period provided for in the preceding paragraph is short from the payment of a fair and prior compensation to the owner.
Rule 125 All provisions before the present Act are repealed.
Rule 126 This Act comes into force on the date of its promulgation.
