28th February 2007The first national stocktake of water charging policies in urban and rural water sectors was released today by the chairman of the National Water Commission, Ken Matthews.
The stocktake is the first step in developing consistent approaches to the way water charges are set across Australia—a key objective of the National Water Initiative (NWI).
Mr Matthews said, “The stocktake highlights the marked differences in water charging across states and territories, with three areas in particular, highlighted for further action.”
Mr Matthews said, “Water charging remains a contentious issue across the country.”
Early indications from the stocktake suggest that differences in approaches between jurisdictions and between the urban and rural water sectors are
most marked in the areas of:
• Recovery of capital expenditure.
• Tariff structures in the urban water sector.
• Approaches to identifying and recovering the costs of water planning and management.”
He says that after two-and-a-half years into the 10-year NWI plan, progress is slow, particularly in water trading.
Mr Matthews says a major priority is to deal with over-allocation of water to farmers and to refurbish and meter irrigation infrastructure, to make it much more efficient.
Discussing the Murray Darling, Mr Matthews says only NSW passes on the full charges levied on the state government by the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) and River Murray Water.
The Victorian government recovers about 70pc of
Victoria’s share of River Murray Water costs and 46pc of Victoria’s share of MDBC costs from water users.
The Victorian Government, in consultation with Goulburn-Murray Water, identifies the costs directly
attributable to the provision of River Murray Water’s bulk services and passes these costs onto Goulburn-Murray Water.
In South Australia, River Murray Water costs and water planning and management costs incurred by the MDBC are borne predominately by the state Government, rather than be passed on to water users, with approximately 17pc of the 2006–07 MDBC contribution expected to be funded through the Save the River Murray Levy.
MDBC costs in NSW are aggregated with the Department of Natural Resources’s (DNR’s) water
management costs and are subject to recovery from water users and government, according to cost-sharing ratios set by IPART for the various activities.
Similarly, River Murray Water costs are aggregated with State Water’s costs.
The resultant aggregate expenditure attributable to water users is then recovered through water charges.
The Australian Government does not currently recover any of its contributions to the MDBC.
* More information: www.nwc.gov.au/nwi/consistency_in_water_charging.cfm
