Bulk Water Pricing Policies and Strategies for Sustainable Water Management

Citation:

Sandhu, G. , Wood, M. O. , Rus, H. A. , & Weber, O. . (2020). Bulk Water Pricing Policies and Strategies for Sustainable Water Management. In Environmental Policy (pp. 71-88). John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Abstract:

Summary With projected impacts of climate change, population, and economic growth, episodes of water scarcity are expected to rise across the globe. The objective of sustainable water management is to ensure that all social, economic, and environmental water demands are fulfilled while sustaining the quality and quantity of water resources. Even though measures for sustainable water management using regulatory and economic instruments are gaining momentum in many countries, there is a need for reform in water management policies in the province of Ontario, Canada. Over the years, water policies in Ontario have come under public and academic scrutiny for being insufficient in addressing competing water demands of different sectors, incentivizing sustainable use as well as proactively signaling water risks at the sub-watershed scale. Bulk water pricing is an effective economic instrument to manage demand and incentivize use-efficiency and conservation by signaling the economic value of water as a resource to users. While the efficacy of volumetric extraction charges has been theoretically established for sustainable water management by existing studies, a comprehensive pricing framework based on sound theoretical principles and best practices has not been methodologically designed. To overcome this deficiency, this chapter investigates and synthesizes key global and provincial best practices to arrive at a conceptual bulk water pricing framework regionally tailored for the case of Ontario. It provides a tangible framework and recommendations to arrive at water extraction charges that can foster sustainable water management and trigger the transition of Ontario into a more water-efficient economy.