A new set of water pricing regulations will be put into force on
January 1, in an effort to ease the worsening water shortage, cut
down on waste of the precious commodity and promote conservative
use of water throughout the country, an official announced
Wednesday.
Addressing a national conference on water conservancy, Zhai
Haohui, vice minister of water resources, said that under China's
current market economy, revising water pricing policies will help
encourage water conservancy and ensure the preservation of a
sustainable economy. "Promulgation of pricing rules will push
forward China's reform on water pricing and help the country manage
existing water resources according to law," the vice minister
said.
He made it clear that, governments above the provincial level
will be responsible for the basic prices of water from the key
state-run water works, such as major reservoirs, and the collection
of water use fees.
Part of the money charged for supplying water will be earmarked
for maintaining and renovating large and medium-sized water supply
facilities built with the state funds, to avoid premature
deterioration.
Setting higher water rates for water supply facilities run by
non-government enterprises can attract greater investment in the
field.
The prices of water of supply works will be allowed to fluctuate
during high water periods and dry seasons.
But water suppliers will have to compensate users if their
facilities fail to ensure adequate supply.
Under a well-designed water pricing mechanism, with controlled
consumption and improved efficiency of use, users can be asked to
pay higher prices when they go beyond their quotas, according to
the regulations.
The new rule also introduces a price hearing system to prevent
random adjustment and ensure users' legal rights, experts with the
ministry said.
To lighten farmer's financial burden resulting from random or
extra water charges by authorities at grass-roots levels, prices of
water used for agriculture will be exempted from taxes.
Some village officials and local water supply agencies at
grass-roots levels were found to have been over-charging farmers.
Farmers should have a say in water pricing at local levels, they
said, declining to be named.
Over and above official water-use charges, extra water fees,
charged without justification in some localities, must be stopped,
the experts stressed.
Zhai was confidant that the guiding principles of the new
pricing regulation will guarantee fair play in the water supply
sector and encourage people to save water resources. "Instead of
simply building projects to increase water supply, China, one of
the countries plagued by a serious water shortage, must encourage
users to save water through the introduction of market mechanisms
or price leverage,'' the vice minister said.
Building a water-efficient society is more significant than
constructing massive water diversion works or water conservancy
projects, such as the south-north water diversion project and the
Three Gorges Dam project, he said.
"This is also one of the best solutions for China's water supply
problems, including frequently-occurring floods and droughts,
serious pollution, wastage of water and lower recycling rates in
water utilization,'' he added.
China's available water per capita is only 2,200 cubic metres,
less than one-third of the global average -- and the figure drops
to one-tenth of this figure in drought-plagued northern China,
according to a World Bank report quoted by experts attending the
conference.
(China Daily December 11, 2003)