Explaining Water Pricing through a Water Security Lens
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Managing Water Resources: Conceptualization and Pricing Structures
3.1. Water as a “Good”
3.2. Commodifying the “Good”—Water Pricing Structures
3.3. Models for Water Provisioning
4. Analysis of Water Pricing Considering its Effect on Water Consumption
4.1. Sectoral and Temporal Dynamics
4.2. Case Studies
4.2.1. Irrigation Sector
Case Study 1: Smart Water Pricing in the African Continent—Ghana
Case Study 2: National Strategies in Water Pricing—Spain
4.2.2. Urban Water Consumption Sector
Case Study 3: Incentive-Based Approach—São Paulo, Brazil
Case Study 4: Water Pricing and Conflict—Cochabamba, Bolivia
Case Study 5: Governance Reforms in a Developed Economy—France
5. Potential of Water Pricing as a Tool for Water Security
- (1)
- Affordability: Ensuring that water is affordable to a community for basic services is a priority of many utilities and their governing boards. Maintaining affordable rates should almost never take precedence over charging rates that are necessary to recover the full costs of service.
- (2)
- Conservation promotion: The amount that customers pay for water service acts as a price signal, often encouraging the customers to decrease consumption.
- (3)
- Economic development: Utilities may strive to attract new or maintain existing commercial customers through water rates to foster greater community benefit.
- (4)
- Short-term revenue stability: Year to year, most water utilities rely on revenue from water consumption charges to cover the predominantly fixed costs of the utility. Yet, water consumption can vary and is on the decline for many utilities, undermining water utility revenue stability, which some are calling the new normal.
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Soto Rios, P.C.; Deen, T.A.; Nagabhatla, N.; Ayala, G. Explaining Water Pricing through a Water Security Lens. Water 2018, 10, 1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091173
Soto Rios PC, Deen TA, Nagabhatla N, Ayala G. Explaining Water Pricing through a Water Security Lens. Water. 2018; 10(9):1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091173
Chicago/Turabian StyleSoto Rios, Paula Cecilia, Tariq A. Deen, Nidhi Nagabhatla, and Gustavo Ayala. 2018. "Explaining Water Pricing through a Water Security Lens" Water 10, no. 9: 1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091173
APA StyleSoto Rios, P. C., Deen, T. A., Nagabhatla, N., & Ayala, G. (2018). Explaining Water Pricing through a Water Security Lens. Water, 10(9), 1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091173