A water surcharge policy for river basin management in Korea: A means of resolving environmental conflict?

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Author(s)
Min, Byung-Seong
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2004
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Conflict between the upstream and downstream residents of four major river basins in Korea has recently intensified. The introduction of a metric-based surcharge for piped water, coupled with environmental regulations, aims to resolve these conflicts. The water surcharge system was introduced both to collect revenue via a levy and to achieve a win-win situation for both upstream and downstream users through two major policy measures: increasing infrastructure investment in wastewater treatment and providing subsidies to upstream residents to compensate for the losses imposed by environmental regulations. A volumetric surcharge ...
View more >Conflict between the upstream and downstream residents of four major river basins in Korea has recently intensified. The introduction of a metric-based surcharge for piped water, coupled with environmental regulations, aims to resolve these conflicts. The water surcharge system was introduced both to collect revenue via a levy and to achieve a win-win situation for both upstream and downstream users through two major policy measures: increasing infrastructure investment in wastewater treatment and providing subsidies to upstream residents to compensate for the losses imposed by environmental regulations. A volumetric surcharge is in line with taxation policy as ordinary households are relatively price inelastic. However, the surcharge is an earmarked water consumption tariff for piped water in order to raise revenue, rather than a full-cost based pollution preventive measure.
View less >
View more >Conflict between the upstream and downstream residents of four major river basins in Korea has recently intensified. The introduction of a metric-based surcharge for piped water, coupled with environmental regulations, aims to resolve these conflicts. The water surcharge system was introduced both to collect revenue via a levy and to achieve a win-win situation for both upstream and downstream users through two major policy measures: increasing infrastructure investment in wastewater treatment and providing subsidies to upstream residents to compensate for the losses imposed by environmental regulations. A volumetric surcharge is in line with taxation policy as ordinary households are relatively price inelastic. However, the surcharge is an earmarked water consumption tariff for piped water in order to raise revenue, rather than a full-cost based pollution preventive measure.
View less >
Journal Title
Water Policy
Volume
6
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© IWA Publishing 2004. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. The definitive peer-reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Water Policy Vol. 6, pp. 365-380, 2004 and is available at www.iwapublishing.com
Subject
Applied Economics
Policy and Administration