Water pricing for sustainability and the poor David Zetland Senior water economist Wageningen University The Netherlands
Apr 01, 2015
Water pricing for sustainability and the poor
David ZetlandSenior water economistWageningen UniversityThe Netherlands
• Covers some or all O & M costs• Do not reflect externalities• Do not usually recover capital costs• Political pressure to keep prices low• Operator desire to minimize
spending
Traditional water pricing...
• Will reflect scarcity and system costs• People decide to use less or more• Rebate excess € per person or meter
Full cost pricing is sustainable
• Social tariffs are hard to target• Failure to provide service (LDCs)• Diversion from poor to rich
Full cost pricing is fair
• Prices that exceed cash costs • Regulation for local conditions• Social income transfers to the poor• Independent of other policies (nexus)One priority: Allow private/public
corporate water companies to serve customers without political interference
Suggestions
Blog: aguanomics.comBook: endofabundance.comData: WaterDataHub.orgContact: [email protected]
Thank you!
This research project has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / grant agreement #265213 Project EPI-WATER “Evaluating Economic Policy Instrument for Sustainable Water Management in Europe”