Six Departments: Steadily Advance Rural Water Supply Price Reform

Recently, the Ministry of Water Resources, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the National Center for Disease Control jointly issued the “Notice on Further Strengthening the Operation and Management of Rural Water Supply Projects.” The notice states that efforts will be made to steadily promote the reform of rural water supply prices. When establishing and adjusting prices, strict cost monitoring and investigation will be conducted in accordance with regulations. Based on maintaining the public welfare nature and ensuring people’s livelihoods, factors such as water supply costs, production capacity utilization, farmers’ affordability, and fiscal subsidies will be considered comprehensively. The prices for non-residential and residential water use in rural areas will be set according to different principles and categorized pricing. Urban-rural integrated projects will implement the same prices for rural and urban areas within the same city. The exploration of a two-tiered water pricing system—“basic water price + metered water price”—will be pursued. The water fee collection mechanism will be improved. (People’s Financial News)