The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today released its Issues Paper seeking submissions on the development of water charge rules for water planning and management.
The water charge rules are an important component of the Water Act 2007. The development of water charge rules will contribute to the sustainable and efficient management of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Water planning and management charge rules will apply to charges which recover the costs of, or relate to, water planning and management activities. The rules aim to facilitate pricing transparency.
The issues paper outlines three possible approaches to developing water charge rules in relation to water planning and management. The first approach focuses on improving pricing transparency through the publication of information about existing charges. The second establishes methodologies for calculating water planning and management charges. The third relies upon the development and (cooperative) implementation of model rules, which would provide a comprehensive approach to identifying and publishing information about the costs of water planning and management activities, increasing transparency of water planning and management charges and the extent of cost recovery from water users.
The issues paper also discusses when and how the ACCC may carry out its determination, monitoring and enforcement roles under the Act.
"Establishing a set of water charge rules that apply to all Basin jurisdictions' water planning and management charges will assist the development of water markets by sending clearer pricing signals to water users," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. "When users understand the costs of the activities associated with the planning and managing of water resources they can make better decisions about the water they use."
A copy of the issues paper, which includes details on how to make a submission, is available from the ACCC website, www.accc.gov.au.
Submissions are to be provided to the ACCC by Wednesday, 12 November 2008.
There will be further opportunity to inform the ACCC's development of the water planning and management charge rules prior to preparation of final advice to the Minister. Specifically, the ACCC proposes to release a position paper in December 2008, for further consultation.