RAW WATER DEMAND AND PRICING FOR URBAN WATER PUBLIC SERVICES IN A TROPICAL SEMI-ARID WATERSHED
Public water supply. Domestic sewage. Residual water. Water pollution. Elasticity of demand. Water pricing.
Charging for water use is an economic water management instrument that aims to induce the economic agents to a more rational use of water and to generate revenue for financing a water management system for a given watershed. This economic instrument of environmental management is used in some watersheds in Brazil and around the world, but has not yet been implemented in most watersheds in the Brazilian semi-arid, where a quantitative and qualitative shortage of water resources makes charging for water use is even more necessary. The objective of this paper is to propose a model for charging for the use of water for the basic sanitation sector in the Piancó-Piranhas-Açu River Basin, considering the catchment and consumption of water, as well as the discharge of domestic effluents. The determination of an optimal price for water use for the sanitation sector will be calculated on the basis of the general equilibrium economic theory. And the validation of the determined price will be done by evaluating different possible scenarios of demand reduction after the application of the charge. It is hoped through this determination of an optimal price for water use that this mechanism will help in the search for the improvement of water resources management in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.