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Azerbaijan has approved new rules for water use, including how payments will be calculated.
Azerbaijan has updated the rules for calculating payments for the use of water bodies, water abstraction and wastewater discharge. The new rules cover how water volumes are measured, how payments are made and how supplies may be reduced during water shortages.
The Operative Information Center-OMM reports that the Cabinet of Ministers has approved a revised version of the Rules for Paid Water Use. Prime Minister Ali Asadov signed the relevant decision.
How will water volumes be calculated?
Under the decision, payments for water taken from water bodies for specific purposes, including through technical equipment and facilities, will be calculated using approved tariffs and the volume of water used. The payments will be transferred to the treasury account of the Azerbaijan State Water Resources Agency (ADSEA).
Water volumes will primarily be determined using water meters. If no meter is installed, alternative calculation methods will be used.
When water is abstracted using electrically powered equipment, its volume will be calculated by dividing monthly electricity consumption by the amount of electricity the equipment uses to abstract one cubic meter of water.
If electricity is not used and there is no water meter, calculations will take into account the purpose of the abstraction and the capacity of the equipment.
In such cases:
- The volume of surface water abstracted for industrial purposes will be calculated as 50 percent of the equipment’s maximum annual abstraction capacity;
- The volume of surface or groundwater abstracted for other purposes will be calculated as 10 percent of that capacity.
The volume of water abstracted for hydropower will be determined according to the amount of electricity generated. Water taken by water tanker trucks will be calculated on the basis of a report signed by the relevant water-supply body and the legal entity or individual concerned.
Water users will be responsible for installing water meters. Alternative calculation methods will apply until meters are installed.
When will no payment be charged for water use?
The rules also provide for several exceptions. No payment will be charged for water taken from natural sources in the following cases:
- Providing the Regional Water Reclamation joint-stock company with untreated water;
- Supplying drinking water by the Regional Water Reclamation joint-stock company and the Water Supply of Large Cities joint-stock company;
- Using water to generate electricity by Azerenergy OJSC.
Payments for discharging wastewater into water bodies will be calculated based on the actual volume discharged.
The State Water Use and Protection Control Service under ADSEA will oversee water-resource accounting, payments and water use.
Payments for raw water will be due by the 10th of the following month
The Regional Water Reclamation joint-stock company will supply consumers with raw water on a paid basis. Payments will be calculated according to approved tariffs and the volume of water supplied.
Payments for raw water will be made by Water Users Associations (WUAs), agricultural producers who receive irrigation water directly, users of winter pastures and grazing lands, fish farms, households, industrial and energy enterprises, the Water Supply of Large Cities joint-stock company, and other legal entities and individuals.
Except for WUAs, consumers will receive raw water under contracts setting out a monthly water-use schedule.
Water volumes will be measured using water meters. If no meter is available, a monthly report on water supply and use will be approved and a corresponding record drawn up.
Consumers will have to pay for raw water received during the current month by the 10th of the following month.
Supplies may be reduced in the event of water shortages
Under the new rules, raw-water supplies will be provided in line with the capacity of water sources and irrigation systems.
Water abstraction from transboundary rivers will be subject to limits set out in agreements with neighboring states. Abstraction from rivers within the country will be based on annual flow with 75 percent reliability, while water taken from other sources will be subject to approved use limits.
If water sources face a shortage, the Regional Water Reclamation joint-stock company may proportionally reduce raw-water volumes supplied to consumers, except in force majeure circumstances, after giving 30 calendar days’ notice.
In doing so, the company must take into account the population’s drinking-water needs and apply the principle of equal provision in allocating water.
Consumers must also submit proposals to the relevant body regarding changes to their water volumes at least 30 calendar days before supply begins.
Drinking-water charges will be calculated by consumer group
Centralized drinking-water supply will be provided on a paid basis by the Water Supply of Large Cities joint-stock company and the Regional Water Reclamation joint-stock company.
Consumers will be divided into three groups:
- Households: those using water for domestic needs, including irrigation, in residential homes, apartments, garages, yards and garden plots;
- Non-households: other consumers;
- Users of drinking water as a raw material: non-service-sector businesses that use drinking water to produce beverages industrially.
Legal entities and individuals conducting business without establishing a legal entity will not be included in the household group.
Water charges will be calculated using approved tariffs. For beverage producers, the tariff for water use will also include the charge for wastewater-discharge services.
Who will set the price of irrigation water?
Water Users Associations will provide irrigation water to farmland on a paid basis.
Associations will be free to set the price of irrigation water, provided it does not exceed the approved upper limit for water-use tariffs.
WUAs will also be required to keep records of irrigation-water use, identify consumers, and monitor compliance with water-use schedules and payment of charges.
The volume supplied to farmland will be measured using water meters. If no meter is installed, the irrigation standards set for the relevant plots will be used.
The revised rules provide for accounting of water resources, measurement of water use and regulation of payments for water-supply services. They also establish procedures for managing supplies when water sources are under pressure.
