Potentialities of water charge in the management of Brazilian water resources

Ferreira, Fernanda Neves; Ribeiro, Hebe Morganne Campos; Dutra, Vítor Abner Borges

doi:10.4136/ambi-agua.2531

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In this sense, the #2a scenario, the most reasonable provider's choice, reveals that freshwater charging is a complex governance problem that demands additional regulation to make the economic instrument effective (Gleick, 2018;Ferreira et al, 2020;Teixeira et al, 2021b).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Cost of Freshwater Charging in Brazil: suppliers’ main alternatives

Teixeira

Veiga²,

Julien³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Charging for freshwater use raises debate on water suppliers' financial sustainability and, social and operational sector efficiency problems. The issue stands out when suppliers' income flows are insufficient to cover production costs or household revenues are low, making it difficult for tariffs to increase. Moreover, it is even worse with the combination of these factors in watersheds with water scarcity. The present work analyzes the freshwater use charging from the perspective of cost increment destination in the sanitation sector. We compared a scenario of cost absorption with the possibility of transfer to final consumers in the first block tariff, fixed by volume ( #2a), and the second block tariff charged by additional m3 consumed (#2b). Results show that scenario #1 reduces resource availability for investments, compromising infrastructure maintenance and service expansion. Alternatively, as a natural monopoly sector, the pass-through to consumers is the most likely. Both #2a and #2b scenarios nullify the encouragement of rational use and operational efficiency, add risk to environmental sustainability, and compromise basin committee plans. However, in the #2b scenario, the possibility of minor water consumption by households, changing for the first block tariff, brings back the #1 scenario possibilities. Scenario #2a, as a plausible choice, demands an accurate discussion of governance in freshwater charging.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The freshwater use charge (FWUC) in Brazil as an economic instrument of watershed management was established in 1997 by Law n. 9.433 (Ferreira et al, 2020). The process and its implementation face administrative bureaucracy, users' discredit, and governance conflicts (Rosa, 2019;De Brito & De Azevedo, 2020;Teixeira et al,2021a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cost of Freshwater Charging in Brazil: suppliers’ main alternatives

Teixeira

Veiga²,

Julien³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Based on Ferreira et al (2020) and Cerqueira (2019), the cubic meter prices of raw water charged in Brazil remain extremely low. They are insufficient to meet the demands presented in the National Water Resource Plan and do not efficiently stimulate the rational use of water (ANA, 2014).…”

Section: System Operation Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of these instruments, which has attracted attention in the last two decades, is charging for raw water. It is a public price because the revenue directly originates from the exploitation of a public good and is gradually applied in federal and state basins (ANA, 2014;Ferreira et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introduccionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Scarcity and Raw Water Charges in the State of Ceará, Brazil

Frota

Silva²,

Júnior³

et al. 2022

Rev. AIDIS ing. cienc. ambient.

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Economic instruments, such as water charges, have been used to promote water conservation and raise funds for basin management. However, there is a need to improve the water collection model in Brazil. The aims of this study were to analyze the evolution of raw water charges in the State of Ceará and verify the effect of drought on the costs and water collection from 2011 to 2019 to answer two questions: does the water collection fulfill its function of financing the water resources system? Is the pricing model flexible to absorb the effects of climate variability? We conducted a content analysis to determine the presence of certain words in selected documents, and then analyzed the costs of system operation. The results show that the payment capacity is lower than the tariff applied to water. The Status Index is negatively correlated with the Administration (ADM) and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs. The generated revenue is mainly used to cover the management costs (ADM and O&M); however, it is insufficient to finance the implementation of measures, programs, and projects to improve the water management in respective basins. Thus, a floating tariff should be established in which the water scarcity and effects of climate variability are incorporated.

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