实施终端水价的难点和对策分析

终端水价即用水户应承担的目标价格,是由水资源边际成本所决定的价格形式。实施终端水价的难点体现在管理技术、水利工程基础设施、水资源特性三个方面。提出了终端水价的实施对策和政策思路,并从实际运行终端水价的角度,提出了具体的方法和措施。     

Financial Analysis of the Spanish Water Sector

This research gives an overview of water sector finances in Spain on a national scale. A methodology is presented which allows to estimate the total financial cost of water services and the rate of cost recovery, based on financial and budget information of administrations, agencies, companies and users’ associations involved in water resources management and water service provision. Financial records of organisations are analysed and the overall amounts of expenditure, cost and revenue determined. Cost recovery rates are calculated for different organisations and water services, and the net contribution of public funds received by the water sector in addition to tariff revenue is determined.     

Report on a panel debate on agricultural subsidies from a water perspective.

The relationships between subsidies, trade and water issues and poverty are complex. If trade barriers and subsidies were removed by the developed countries, it is likely that opportunities for the developing countries would improve--not just for increased trade but also for improved livelihood opportunities.     

Effective subsidies in developing countries.

During the last decades, significant subsidies have been allocated to government-owned water and sewerage enterprises in developing countries. However, water and sewerage coverage is still far from desirable and the poor are particularly affected by the shortage of these services. The truth is that a considerable part of these subsidies have been used up to build huge infrastructure works that would make some construction firms happy, while often decreasing the service costs for the richer. The costs associated of delivering water and sanitation services to the poor are significantly higher, as they often live in slums or irregular urban developments without urban infrastructure. It is possible, and desirable, to improve government's effectiveness through the use of appropriate economic incentives. The Brazilian River Basin Pollution Abatement Program, based on the "output-based aid" concept, is a good example of how this can be achieved. The Program is a success story that shows that the quality of expenditures on sanitation can be considerably improved if governments of developing countries refrain from contracting sanitation infrastructure works and start paying for results, not for promises.     

农村税费改革对引黄灌区农业水费计收的影响与对策

在农村税费改革大背景下，针对引黄灌区实际，客观分析了农村税费改革对农业税费计收的影响，并提出了相应的对策，包括积极推进末级渠系管理体制改革、建立价格补偿机制、推行水费公示制度以及通过加强管理降低供水成本、提高服务水平等。     

The Debate over Municipal Water Pricing: Evidence from Kolkata,India

Steps to rationalize the municipal water pricing system have raised various debates in Kolkata, India. The primary point of debate is whether the age-old direct subsidy to a water system benefiting all users should continue or a volumetric charge on water usage should be imposed. Apart from this, issues such as a transitional phase pricing strategy, specific tariff structure, support for the poor and management options are widely debated by those that favour rationalization. The present paper examines the behaviour of 500 households of Kolkata, India, and uses the information to resolve the issues of contention. It is estimated that a uniform volumetric charge of Rs. 4 per kilolitre can be imposed in the phase of transition.     

An Assessment of Future Global Water Issues

After decades of neglect, water has recently become a part of the international political agenda. However, the focus of the debate on the global water crisis is still wrong. The main crisis is unlikely to come from water scarcity, though some countries will find it difficult to manage such problems. Instead, it is likely to come from continuing and rapid water quality deterioration, and the availability of investment funds. Neither of these two issues is being adequately reflected in global water debates. In addition, the targets of the water-related Millennium Development Goals are unlikely to be achieved universally by 2015, until and unless consumers pay for the water services they receive. The subsidies should be very specifically targeted to the poor.     

Cost recovery in water supply in developing countries

This article discusses trends in cost recovery policies, costs, consumers’ ability and willingness to pay, water tariff structures, fee collection and financial management. Cost recovery, operational technology and appropriate institutions are the key requirements of sustainability. Commonly practised water vending and reselling, while a good indication of actual willingness to pay for water, is a very costly system. In practice free water supply benefits the rich. Progressive tariffs and innovative collection methods should be used instead.     

Tariffs and Cost Recovery in Water Reuse

In water stressed areas, water reuse has been identified as a key component of integral water resource management. However, the economics of water reuse projects are a major barrier for their implementation. The objectives of pricing for water demand management, pricing for encouraging the use of regenerated water, and pricing for cost recovery are not simultaneously achievable. In this paper, the major constraints hindering the implementation of the cost recovery principle in water reuse have been identified. Moreover, a two-part tariff with a combination of a decreasing and increasing rate structure for the variable charge is proposed as a partial solution to improve water reuse pricing. Finally, some policy recommendations from the perspective of integrated water resource management are formulated.     

面向社会资本建设的阶梯式水价管理策略

通过对阶梯式水价的分析,指出在阶梯式水价的操作中存在管理收益,但与管理收益同时存在的还有实施瓶颈和成本,瓶颈就是用水定额的制定,成本则为巨大的抄表工作量。最后给出一种面向社会资本建设、能够实现双赢的阶梯式水价操作方法。     

Chilean Water Policy: The Role of Water Rights,Institutions and Markets

Allocation of water through markets in tradable water rights in Chile has fostered efficient use of water; facilitated a shift to high-value crops which use less water per unit value of output; has given farmers greater flexibility to shift cropping patterns according to market demand through the purchase, rent and lease of water; and induced im proved efficiency in urban water and sewage services. In addition, the Chilean water policy, by reducing huge con struction and operations and maintenance subsidies to better-off farmers and urban water consumers, has freed-up public resources that have been utilized to provide direct and transparent targeted subsidies for poor urban water users and small farmers. This paper discusses the political and economic environment that facilitated the establishment of the new water policy, and describes the characteristics of tradable water rights in Chile and the legal and institutional basis for enforcing them.     

Towards Sustainable Water Policy in Kuwait: Reforms of the Current Practices and the Required Investments, Institutional and Legislative Measures

The water policies of Kuwait are in need of major reforms in order to cope with the ever-increasing demands without burdening the country’s economy. As it stands, the simple approach of increasing desalination capacities and groundwater withdrawal to meet the demands is hurting the economy as well as the natural resources, and is bound to lead the country into a serious water crisis. In this context, this paper discusses the potential alternatives to the current water policies of Kuwait. Adopting two of the IWRM Toolbox axis, namely potential impact of the proposed reforms and readiness of the enabling environment (investment/benefits, institutional setup, and regulative requirements), as a basis for discussion and evaluation, this study presents, evaluates and prioritizes a set of what is widely regarded as the main reforms of the current policies in the hope of focusing attention on those that are most effective. Overall, the necessary investments are moderate. In contrast, failure to implement the reforms would cost Kuwait well above $1 billion/year. Institutional changes are expected to be minor, while significant efforts are needed to amend the regulatory setup. Using an arbitrary rating system based on the available evidence, four reforms are recommended for implementation as high priority (mandating water conserving devices, restructuring the water tariff, reallocation of resources, and awareness programs), three reforms are considered medium priority for implementation (penalizing wasteful practices, water auditing and groundwater protection), and two reforms are not recommended (reduction of leakage in the main network and tighter immigration laws). On the other hand, three reforms have a high potential impact but there are too many ambiguities regarding their technical feasibility. These reforms are recommended for further research, two as high priority (alternative desalination technology and artificial recharge using RO water) and one as low priority (artificial recharge using harvested water). Cultural and political issues that are expected to influence the reforms have been briefly discussed.     

Setting-up a cost recovery system for the largest wastewater treatment plant in South-East Asia.

A tariff system has been set up for the largest wastewater treatment plant in South-East Asia, the Samut Prakarn Wastewater Treatment Plant south of Bangkok, which is currently under completion. Fully functional the plant will have a design capacity for 500,000 m3 per day and will service a combined residential and industrial area with approximately 600,000 residents and 2,300 factories. The tariff system, which includes a tariff model, is based on water consumption and BOD load. As background for setting the tariffs a comprehensive monitoring system including an industrial permitting system has been developed. The paper presents the background and rationale for setting up the system as well as the objective, scope and content of the tariff system and the industrial permit system. Further, the feasibility of introducing cost recovery systems, which is widely accepted in developing economies on the conceptual level and to some extent implemented at the legal and regulatory level, but has yet to be implemented at large, is discussed.     

我国城乡供水水价机制初探

水价是水务体制改革的关键性问题之一。我国水价主要包括三个部分:资源水价、工程水价和环境水价。目前我国水价机制比较突出的问题有:部分地区水价偏低,水价成本约束机制尚未健全,水价秩序不规范,水价结构不合理,水价制定中不适当的行政干预,定价过程中对环境、生态及地方实际情况考虑不足,农村水价问题等。针对上述问题,提出我国城乡供水水价机制的建议:发挥市场基础性作用,改革价格管制;推进供水企业产权改革和经营体制改革;建立合理的补偿机制。     

Water Pricing in Irrigated Agriculture

Access to water is viewed as a basic human right, a social necessity and a critical environmental resource in spite of the fact that water also has its own financial and economic values. Thus, the selection of set prices and pricing mechanisms addressing these contradicting views is remarkably complicated. On the other hand, water pricing is typically viewed as a good means to cover initial costs and sustain resources invested in water systems development, especially irrigated agriculture. Additionally, the cost of water services needs to be reasonable enough and linked to the amount of water consumed to encourage conservation. This paper illustrates criteria for equitable cost sharing, which include economic justification, efficiency and equity as well as users' acceptance. Elements of agricultural water pricing are also discussed. These elements comprise: the cost of water services, which is the total cost associated with irrigated agricultural systems development; the value of water, which reflects water's economic, social, environmental, cultural and religious values in the society; and the cost recovery mechanisms, which are the organizational and administrative measures to implement agreed upon policies to value water and services and make the collections.     

Transjurisdictional Water Pollution Management in China: The Legal and Institutional Framework

The current study shows that the recent diesel price hike had an insignificant impact on irrigation costs incurred by diesel well owners in eastern India. Further, analysis of the farming enterprises of diesel well owners and water buyers from both diesel and electric wells confronted with a differential cost of irrigation water showed that farmers would be able to cope with a very high rise in irrigation costs through irrigation efficiency improvements and allocating more area to crops that give higher returns per unit of land and water. By doing this, they are able to maintain the farm returns.     

Investment in Irrigation Systems under Precipitation Uncertainty

Efficient agricultural water management is indispensable in meeting future food demands. The European Water Framework Directive promotes several measures such as the adoption of adequate water pricing mechanisms or the promotion of water-saving irrigation technologies. We apply a stochastic dynamic programming model (SDPM) to analyze a farmer??s optimal investment strategy to adopt a water-efficient drip irrigation system or a sprinkler irrigation system under uncertainty about future production conditions, i.e. about future precipitation patterns. We assess the optimal timing to invest into either irrigation system in the planning period 2010 to 2040. We then investigate how alternative policies, (a) irrigation water pricing, and (b) equipment subsidies for drip irrigation, affect the investment strategy. We perform the analysis for the semi-arid agricultural production region Marchfeld in Austria, and use data from the bio-physical process simulation model EPIC (Environmental Policy Integrated Climate) which takes into account site and management related characteristics as well as weather parameters from a statistical climate change model. We find that investment in drip irrigation is unlikely unless subsidies for equipment cost are granted. Also water prices do not increase the probability to adopt a drip irrigation system, but rather delay the timing to invest into either irrigation system.     

浅议两部制水价的实施条件及运用

随着水价改革的深入,两部制水价制度逐步完善,运用更加广泛并产生了积极效果。但是,由于对两部制水价的实施条件及运用效果认识不到位,影响了其进一步推广。对两部制水价的内涵、政策依据及理论基础作了简要介绍,重点论述了实施两部制水价制度的运用条件及效果。实行两部制水价制度后,可以提升水利资金的使用效率,促进建立供水生产成本、费用的均衡补偿渠道,提高供水管理能力,更好地发挥节约用水和优化配置水资源的作用。     

Domestic water access and pricing in urban areas of Mozambique: between equity and cost recovery for the provision of a vital resource

This article first presents the urban domestic water access situation in Mozambique. Then it analyzes the country's tariff system as a tool to recover water supply costs and to secure equity and affordability for the urban households served. The analysis focused on those households with in-dwelling water access (less than 50% of the urban population in Mozambique). Urban families using 5 m³, 10 m³, and 15 m³ of in-dwelling piped water per month pay an average of USD 0.86, 0.74, and 0.76 per m³, respectively. At the national level, cost recovery is an issue because in most urban areas operation and maintenance costs are not fully covered. The average coverage ratio for the country is 0.85. The presented figures indicate that a revision of the water tariffs currently applied in Mozambique could help improve equity, affordability and cost recovery.     

重庆市西部缺水城镇水价改革与居民承受力指数研究

居民的付费意愿和承受力一直是水价改革中最受关注并制约改革的焦点问题.结合世界银行资助项目--重庆西部缺水地区城镇水价改革付费意愿调研,对区域调水供水工程覆盖的城镇居民的承受力和支付意愿进行了量化分析,提出了承受力指数,反映出公众参与在水价改革中的地位与作用,为水价改革提供了参考.