Research on Key Issues of China’s Project Water Price

Focusing on China’s current water price issues, such as “difficulty in pricing, adjustment, charging, and effectiveness” and the others, the current water conservancy project water supply system has been sorted out in terms of water price formation mechanism, water price composition, influencing factors, price system structure, and pricing technology. Quantitative analysis has been carried out on the problems with prices. At the same time, based on the experience and lessons of similar policies and system reforms at home and abroad, the study puts forward the long-term mechanism of water fee collection and subsidy and the implementation of safeguard measures and recommendations for the water supply price system of water conservancy projects.

The future of Swiss hydropower: how to distribute the risk and the profits?

Low electricity prices put economic pressure on hydropower companies. A more flexible water fee design can counteract this pressure and support hydropower companies during times when market revenues are low. However, this comes at the cost of lower revenues for resource owners. Using a sample of cost data for 62 companies and revenue data derived from an electricity market model, we have quantified this trade-off for the case of Switzerland. We found that electricity market price developments dominate changes in water fees and that for the profitability of hydropower, electricity prices are more important than water fee levels. However, with electricity prices of around CHF 40 per MWh, water fees can make the difference between profit and loss. Therefore, while flexible water fee regimes shift the market risk from producers to resource owners to some extent, the extent of this risk shift depends on the detailed design of the flexible regime.

Economic Instruments for Sustainable Environmental Management

Environmental pollution has been continuously threatening the world. In the combat with environmental pollution problems, waste management authorities, in compliance with the “User Pays Principle-USP”, apply the “Polluter Pays Principle-3Ps” to the waste generators. Thus the resource users and the waste generators will be paying a fee for the resources and services they are using. They can be summarized as water fee, wastewater discharge fee, effluent permit fee, air emission fees, solid waste disposal fee, landfill tax, and hazardous waste tax and product charge, Advance Disposal Fee (ADF), Ozone-Depleting Chemicals (ODC), government product charge and road user fees. The main purpose of charging a fee is to encourage the users and the polluters to reduce the amount of pollutants they are generating and disposing into the environment. These fees can also be named as “a pollution charge fee”, “user charge fee” or “product charge fee”. This chapter outlines the many existing waste fee models.

Economic Instruments for Sustainable Environmental Management

Environmental pollution has been continuously threatening the world. In the combat with environmental pollution problems, waste management authorities, in compliance with the “User Pays Principle-USP”, apply the “Polluter Pays Principle-3Ps” to the waste generators. Thus the resource users and the waste generators will be paying a fee for the resources and services they are using. They can be summarized as water fee, wastewater discharge fee, effluent permit fee, air emission fees, solid waste disposal fee, landfill tax, and hazardous waste tax and product charge, Advance Disposal Fee (ADF), Ozone-Depleting Chemicals (ODC), government product charge and road user fees. The main purpose of charging a fee is to encourage the users and the polluters to reduce the amount of pollutants they are generating and disposing into the environment. These fees can also be named as “a pollution charge fee”, “user charge fee” or “product charge fee”. This chapter outlines the many existing waste fee models.

Erzurum Daphan Sulama Birliği Birinci ve ikinci Etap Sulama Şebekesinin Performansının Değerlendirilmesi (2012-2016)

This study was carried out to evaluate the irrigation system performance of the first and second stage irrigation areas of Daphan Plain, which is constructed and transferred to Daphan Irrigation Association by The State Hydraulic Works in Daphan Irrigation Project area for the years 2012-2016. As a result of the research, it was determined that the annual net water supply ratio was between 7.10 and 9.90 for the real plant production area and 2.19 to 2.60 per year for the total schemes area which was ready to irrigation applications. The net water supply ratios were ranged from 3.20 to 4.20 for irrigated land while it was varied from 0.93 to 1.10 on the condition of whole area were planted. Sustainable irrigation area ratio is realized between 24.53% and 33.15% and the ratio of realized production values are between 19.34% and 26.13%. While the profitability ratio is between 4.30 and 9.28, the financial efficiency ratio is between 17.69% and 46.82% and the financial sufficiency ratio is between 106% and 145%, the collection rate of irrigation water fee is between 20.66% and 34.37%.

Evaluation of Water-Storage and Water-Saving Potential for Paddy Fields in Gaoyou, China

In China, the stress on agricultural water resources is becoming increasingly severe. In response, a range of water-saving irrigation (WSI) policies and practices have been promoted to improve irrigation efficiency. In this study, a water-balance model in paddy fields was calibrated and validated using a 2-year field experimental dataset collected from an irrigated area in Gaoyou, China, in 2014–2015. The model was used to assess the effects of WSI practices and provides options for implementing water-price reforms. Results show that paddy fields effectively retain rainfall with utilization rates greater than 70% for both shallow wet irrigation (SWI) and shallow humidity-regulated irrigation (SHRI) scenarios. The estimated average water-saving rates from 1960 to 2015 using SWI and SHRI are 33.7% and 43%, respectively, which represent considerable reductions in water consumption. The benefits of WSI practices combined with water management policies are also evident. For example, conversion of irrigation water to industrial water yields a 3-year average water fee of 205.2 yuan/ha using SWI and 20.6 yuan/ha using SHRI, considerably reducing farmers’ financial burden for agricultural water supplies. In conclusion, we recommend the adoption of SWI and SHRI practices in southern China as a means of partially alleviating China’s water-shortage problem.

Determinants of willingness to pay for non-technical irrigation in East Java, Indonesia

Declining water supply is the main cause of rising water fee for agricultural use. Moreover, in non-technical irrigation, poor irrigation infrastructure exacerbates water scarcity. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify farmer willingness to pay for non-technical irrigation and its determinants. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 100 farmers. Contingent valuation method was employed to elicit farmer WTP and multiple linear regression was used to find its determinants. The result shows that farmer average WTP is Rp 3,055,168 /ha/year. It accounts for 20 percent of total farmer revenue and almost 20 times fee for technical irrigation. Economic and technical variables are the significant determinants of WTP while social variables seem insignificant to WTP. This result indicates high economic value of water, and to improve irrigation management we recommend establishing irrigation infrastructure gradually by mobilizing farmer resources (capital and management) and strengthening WUA.

Willingness to Pay Additional Water Rate and Irrigation Knowledge of Farmers in Dinar Karakuyu Irrigation Areas in Turkey

Water which has become commodity product which is an important product today. Turkey is not a water rich country. In this study, agricultural enterprises in the field of Irrigation Project in Dinar Karakuyu which was implemented in 1992 by DSI. The study analysed which factors affect the willingness to pay additional irrigation water rate with the help of logit model and the irrigation knowledge of farmers was determined by Likert scale. Dinar Karakuyu irrigation network has begun to lose the function in the region. It was supposed 100% irrigation rate but decreased by approximately 9% today. In this context, DSI (General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works) plans to rehabilitation work in the same area. The main material of this study was data obtained from 67 agricultural enterprises through a survey covered by the Irrigation Rehabilitation Project in the province of Afyonkarahisar Karakuyu Dinar. The data was gathered with the help of questionnaires which were answered by farmers in Karakuyu Dinar region. The results indicated that 74.6% of farmers were willingness to pay additional water charge. The data were statistically analysed with the use of the logit model. The model results show that agricultural income, farmers’ educational level, computer ownership, attendance of agricultural training activities, family size and agricultural experience were positive factors affect farmers’ willingness to pay additional water fee.

Understanding Farmers’ Decision Making in Agricultural Water Fee Payment in China: The Role of Mental Accounting

To better understand farmers’ refusal and corresponding negative emotions to pay agricultural water fee under current policy in rural China, this paper applies mental accounting, a behavioral economics framework, to explore how the governmental policies of reform of rural taxes and fees, direct agricultural subsidy programs and agricultural water fee individually influence farmers’ decisions in paying agricultural water fee. Using fieldwork data from 577 farmers and 20 water managers in Sichuan, we explore farmers’ information processing regarding paying agricultural water fee via three sequential mental accounting processes, with the associated underlying principles and measures behind each process. We find that the information processing in three mental accounting scenarios related to the agricultural water fee elucidates farmers’ observed behaviors in rural China. Generally, in the three mental accounting scenarios, two conditional intuitive expectations and nine conditional intuitive preferences are formed, however, the conditions of those expectations or preferences cannot be matched with the facts due to the reform of rural taxes and fees, the direct agricultural subsidy programs and the internal attributes of agricultural water fee, which interpret those negative behaviors in rural China. Additionally, this paper offers a view into how previous policies create negative psychological externalities (such as farmers’ psychological dependence on the government) through mental accounting to negatively influence agents’ subsequent decision making; it highlights the significance of underlying mental factors and information processing of negative behaviors in policymaking for managing or conserving common pool resources.