Explanatory Notes on Key Topics in the Regulation of Water and Sanitation Services
The Explanatory Notes on Key Topics in the Regulation of Water and Sanitation Services provide a consistent set of principles and practices that respond to these questions. Such information will be of interest to service providers, policy makers, and development practitioners interested in improving the performance of WSS services in urban areas. The notes draw upon current regulatory thinking and research, but are intended to be accessible to those who are not regulatory experts. These are the first outputs of a program of work on regulation in the water supply and sanitation sector funded by the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), the Bank-Netherlands Water Partnership (BNWP), and the World Bank. We will add additional notes as that work progresses. Each of the notes can be read separately, and together the notes provide an integrated framework for the development of practical approaches to the regulation of WSS. The seven notes address the following topics: 1. defining economic regulation for water supply services; 2. designing economic regulation for water supply services: a framework; 3. choosing organizations and instruments for economic regulation of water supply services; 4. regulation and private participation contracts; 5. cost of service and tariffs for water utilities; 6. regulating government-owned water utilities; and 7. regulating wastewater services in developing countries.