photographist

“Across the world, tensions relating to water resources are rising, with these resources no longer able to meet all of the demands placed on them. My interest lies in tools to manage these water resources. Raising awareness of the scarcity and value of such resources – to homes as well as to farmers – is a real problem. One way to do this is to introduce tariffs: making farmers, manufacturers and households pay in order to encourage them to bear the scarcity of this resource in mind by giving it a price. In many regions a paid water distribution network has already been put in place for farmers, meaning they only need to turn a tap instead of relying on their wells. Some rural households also tend to drill wells in order to gain free access to the underground water– which can generate waste and pollute the groundwater, which is also often used to supply the community with drinking water.

However we must make sure to avoid a single water tariff
for the entire French territory. Ignoring specific local characteristics could have a perverse effect. When people use wells either they do not consume any, or consume only a small amount, of the drinking water supply. As the whole water bill is based on metered consumption of drinking water, they do not have to pay for its sanitation and act as free riders, since they are not paying for a service provided to them. This has a knock-on effect on the other users, when it comes to water resources, “water must pay for water”, or in other words there must be a financial balance. Hence the value in having a fixed payment component that represents a set part of the cost of the supply and sanitation infrastructures, which are very costly and should be dimensioned according to the maximum number of potential users – not forgetting seasonal users in tourist areas.”

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