重庆西部水价改革付费意愿研究
46922
A Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) Survey and Study for Water Tariff Reform in Western Chongqing
ChongqingUniversity
And
Chongqing World Bank Project Management Office
Submitted to
The World Bank
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重庆西部水价改革付费意愿研究
1
重庆西部水价改革付费意愿研究
December 2006
1
A Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) Survey and Study for
Water Tariff Reform in western ChongqingAcknowledgement
Acknowledgement
With all-round helps, the report of A Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) Survey and Study for Water Tariff Reform in Western Chongqingwas accomplished. The researchers first want to thank the World Bankforproviding financial supportand technical assistance through its Analytical and Advisory Assistance Program (AAA) “China: Addressing Water Scarcity.” We are very grateful to Mr. Jian Xie, the project manager, who provided constructive assistance on technical advisory, guidance and some referencesthroughout the project implementation. The researchers also want to express acknowledgement to Mr. Hua Wang, an expert also from the World Bank, for providingvaluable guidance and constructive ideas for the questionnaire design and data processing and analysis.
Chongqing Project Management Office (CQPMO) made excellent coordination for project implementation, which made the in-person survey possible. Prof. Linjun Zhou, the director of CQPMO, presented expert advisory on project proposal, questionnaire design and final implementation in person. His advisory, thorough understanding and perspectives of water pricing are very important to improve the quality of this project and strengthen the cognition of the researchersabout water pricing system in western Chongqing. Mrs. Ya Huang provided concrete coordination for the project and helped the researches access to the relevant documents of the proposed projects financed by the World Bank loan. Mrs. Qi Dong, also from CQPMO, provided personal helps as well.
Chongqing Development and Reform Commission and its local departments in Shapingba, Jiulongpo, Bishan, Tongshan, Dianjiang and Yongchuan provided detailed help of coordination within the survey sites. And the local organizations such as subdistrict offices and neighborhood committee provided strong and effective supportfor the in-person surveys, especially in over a month of extremely high temperature (over 40 centigrade degree) in summer 2006.Their help greatly alleviated the difficulty of interview and made the surveys possible and easier.
Special thanks forover 70 college students majored in water and wastewater engineering and environmental engineering of the College of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, ChongqingUniversity, who have attended the in-person survey and/or data entering and processingduring their summer holiday. Their hard work made significant contribution to this project.
Finally, and most importantly, we want to appreciate the residents who accepted our pretest and final survey and spent their precioustime on finishing the questionnaires. They also proposed many valuable ideas and suggestions for the water pricing system reform in western Chongqing. Their participation is very important to Chongqing’s water management and marks the improvement of public participation in recent years.
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A Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) Survey and Study for
Water Tariff Reform in western ChongqingContents
CONTENTS
1Background and Objectives
1.1Background
1.2Objectives
1.3Timetable and Personnel Arrangement
1.3.1Timetable
1.3.2Personnel arrangement
2Scope of Survey
2.1General Situation of Chongqing
2.2Background of the Survey Areas
2.2.1Shapingba District
2.2.2Jiulongpo District
2.2.3Dianjiang County
2.2.4Tongnan County
2.2.5Yongchuan City
2.2.6Bishan County
3Methodolgy
3.1Introduction
3.2Arrangement of Survey Implementation
3.3Problem Identification and Information Expected to Obtain
3.4Questionnaire Design
3.5Pretest (Pilot Survey)
3.5.1Objectives
3.5.2Arrangement
3.5.3Analysis of results and summary
3.5.4Modification of questionnaires
3.6Final Survey
3.6.1Sampling method
3.6.2Detailed survey sites
3.6.3Organization of survey
3.6.4Implementation
3.6.5Distribution of samples
3.7Measures for Quality Control
3.8Analysis and Policy Recommendation
4Water Consumption in Western Chongqing
4.1Overview
4.2Types of Houses
4.3Situation of Water consumption and Supply
4.3.1Patterns of water supply
4.3.2Structure of water consumption and supply
4.3.3Summary of water supply in the surveyed areas
5Satisfaction of Urban Residents with Current Water Services and Water Prices
5.1Satisfaction of Urban Residents with Current Water Price and Services
5.2Analysis of Reasons Causing Dissatisfaction
5.3Comparison with the 2004 Survey
6WTP of urban water costumers
6.1Current Water Prices
6.2WTP Analysis in Various Survey Areas
6.2.1Method Description
6.2.2Dianjiang County
6.2.3Bishan County
6.2.4Small towns in Shapingba district
6.2.5Small towns in Jiulongpo area
6.2.6Small towns in Yongchuan City
6.2.7Tongnan County
6.3Impact of Income Level on Water Consumption
6.3.1Dianjiang County
6.3.2Bishan County
6.3.3Shapingba district
6.3.4Jiulongpo district
6.3.5Yongchuan city
6.3.6Tongnan County
6.4Determination of Acceptable Water Price Threshold (AWPT)
6.4.1Concept and method
6.4.2Dianjiang County
6.4.3Bishan Country
6.4.4Shapingba district of small towns
6.4.5Small towns in Jiulongpo
6.4.6Small cities of Yongchuan
6.4.7Tongnan Country
6.5The Impact of the Water Price about Residential Lives
6.5.1Dianjiang County
6.5.2Bishan Country
6.5.3Shapingba Area
6.5.4Jiulongpo Area
6.5.5Yongchuan Area
6.5.6Tongnan Country
6.6Comparison to the Survey in 2001
7Water Price and Policy Recommendation in Western Chongqing
8Data Reliability and Summarization of the Survey Method
8.1Reliability of Data
8.1.1Analysis of sampling reliability
8.1.2Role and effect of the local government
8.1.3Reasons for possible error
8.1.4Main social impacts found in the survey
8.2Summary of Survey Method
8.2.1Experiences and lessons in project organization
8.2.2Experiences and lessons in questionnaire design
8.2.3Experiences and lessons in other aspects
9Concluding Remarks
References
Annex 1 Questionnaires for ResidentialUse
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A Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) Survey and Study for
Water Tariff Reform in western ChongqingContents
CONTENTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 4.1 Revenue distribution of the households accepted the survey
Table 4.2 Age of respondents
Table 4.3 Educational level of the respondents
Table 4.4 Occupation of respondents
Table 4.5 Building types in the surveyed location
Table 4.6 Pattern of Residential Water Supply
Table 4.7 Structure of water supply and consumption in Dianjiang
Table 4.8 Structures of water supply and consumption in Bishan
Table 4.9 Structure of water supply and consumption in Shapingba
Table 4.10 Structure of water consumption and supply, Jiulongpo
Table 4.11 Structure of residential water consumption and sources in small cities of Yongchuan
Table 4.12 Structure of residential water consumption and sources, Tongnan
Table 4.13 Water insufficiencies in survey areas
Table 4.14 Coping strategies for managing water supply shortages
Table 4.15 Frequency and necessity of residents buying water with extra expenses
Table 5.1 Feeling about municipal water supply of the residents under current water tariff
Table 5.2 Reasons for unsatisfactory with municipal water supply
Table 5.3 Reasons for poor drinking water quality
Table 6.1 Present water tariffs of various survey areas
Table 6.2 Comprehensive indexes of WTP for various tariffs, Dianjiang
Table 6.3 Comprehensive indexes of WTP for various tariffs, Bishan
Table 6.4 Comprehensive indexes of WTP for various tariffs, Shapingba
Table 6.5 Comprehensive indexes of WTP for various tariffs, Jiulongpo
Table 6.6 Comprehensive indexes of WTP for various tariffs, Yongchuan
Table 6.7 Comprehensive indexes of WTP for various tariffs, Tongnan
Table 6.8 Average income and water consumption situation, Dianjiang
Table 6.9 Average income and water consumption situation, Bishan
Table 6.10 Average income and water consumption situation, Shapingba
Table 6.11 Average income and water consumption situation, Jiulongpo
Table 6.12 Average income and water consumption situation, Yongchuan
Table 6.13 Average income and water consumption situation, Tongnan
Table 6.14 Estimates of rate of expenses on water supply to household revenue, Dianjiang
Table 6.15 Estimates of rate of expenses on water supply to household revenue, Bishan
Table 6.16 Estimates of rate of expenses on water supply to household revenue, Shapingba
Table 6.17 Estimates of rate of expenses on water supply to household revenue, Jiulongpo
Table 6.18 Estimates of rate of expenses on water supply to household revenue, Yongchuan
Table 6.19 Estimates of rate of expenses on water supply to household revenue, Tongnan
Table 6.20 Overall WTPs for the survey area as a whole
Table 7.1 Comparison of current water price with AWPT
Table 7.2 Percentage of people that are clear about how water price is formulated
Table 7.3 Income level and average water usage
Table 7.4 Various kinds of households that need policy support
Table 7.5 Support policies in various areas
Table 7.6 Percentage of households with special policy supported
Table 8.1 Comparison of the results of different Questionnaires
Figure 2.1 Schematic of scope of survey area
Figure 4.1 Structure of water consumption and supply in Dianjiang
Figure 4.2 Structure of water supply and consumption in Bishan
Figure 4.3 Structure of water consumption and supply, Shapingba
Figure 4.4 Structure of residential water consumption and sources, Jiulongpo
Figure 4.5 Structure of residential water consumption and sources in small towns of Yongchuan
Figure 4.6 Structure of residential water consumption and sources, Tongnan
Figure 5.1 Statistical graph of satisfaction of residents with water supply in various areas
Figure 5.2 Reasons of using other sources in various areas
Figure 6.1 Relationship of acceptance index and water tariff for different income levels, Dianjiang
Figure 6.2 WTP curve of the respondents, Dianjiang
Figure 6.3 Relationship of acceptance index and water tariff for different income levels, Bishan
Figure 6.4 WTP curve of the respondents, Bishan
Figure 6.5 Relationship of acceptance index and water tariff for different income levels, Shapingba
Figure 6.6 WTP curve of the respondents, Shapingba
Figure 6.7 Relationship of acceptance index and water tariff for different income levels, Jiulongpo
Figure 6.8 WTP curve of the respondents, Jiulongpo
Figure 6.9 Relationship of acceptance index and water tariff for different income levels, YongchuanWTP curve of the respondents, Yongchuan
Figure 6.10 WTP curve of the respondents, Yongchuan
Figure 6.11 Relationship of acceptance index and water tariff for different income levels, Tongnan
Figure 6.12 WTP curve of the respondents, Tongnan
Figure 6.13 Relationship between per capita average income and water consumption, Dianjiang
Figure 6.14 Relationship between per capita average income and water consumption, Bishan
Figure 6.15 Relationship between per capita average income and water consumption, Shapingba
Figure 6.16 Relationship between per capita average income and water consumption, Jiulongpo
Figure 6.17 Relationship between per capita average income and water consumption, Yongchuan
Figure 6.18 Relationship between per capita average income and water consumption, Tongnan
Figure 6.19 Analysis of AWPT, 0.5-15 Yuan/m3, Dianjiang
Figure 6.20 Analysis of AWPT, 1.5-7.0 Yuan/m3, Dianjiang
Figure 6.21 Analysis of AWPT, 1.0-6.0 Yuan/m3, Dianjiang
Figure 6.22 Analysis of AWPT, 0.5-15.0 Yuan/m3, Bishan
Figure 6.23 Analysis of AWPT, 1.5~7.0 Yuan/m3, Bishan
Figure 6.24 Analysis of AWPT, 1.0-6.0 Yuan/m3, Bishan
Figure 6.25 Analysis of AWPT, 0.5-15 Yuan/m3, Shapingba
Figure 6.26 Analysis of AWPT, 1.5-7 Yuan/m3, Shapingba
Figure 6.27 Analysis of AWPT, 1.0-6.0 Yuan/m3, Shapingba
Figure 6.28 Analysis of AWPT, 0.50-15.0 Yuan/m3, small towns of Jiulongpo
Figure 6.29 Analysis of AWPT, 1.5-7.0 Yuan/m3, small towns of Jiulongpo
Figure 6.30 Analysis of AWPT, 1.0-6.0 Yuan/m3, small towns of Jiulongpo
Figure 6.31 Analysis of AWPT, 0.5-15.0 Yuan/m3, small towns in Yongchuan
Figure 6.32 Analysis of AWPT, 1.5-7.0 Yuan/m3, small towns in Yongchuan
Figure 6.33 Analysis of AWPT, 1.0-6.0 Yuan/m3, small towns in Yongchuan
Figure 6.34 Analysis of AWPT, 0.5-15.0 Yuan/m3, Tongnan
Figure 6.35 Analysis of AWPT, 1.5-7.0 Yuan/m3, Tongnan
Figure 6.36 Analysis of AWPT, 1-6 Yuan/m3, Tongnan
Figure 7.1 Relationship between income level and water consumption
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A Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) Survey and Study for
Water Tariff Reform in western Chongqing Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMERY
This report is a summary of the project of the Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) Survey and Study for Water Tariff Reform in Western Chongqing funded by Environment & Social Development Sector Unit (EASES)East Asia and Pacific Region, the World Bank. The World Bank funded this study in order to understand the opinions of the public on present water services and the possibility of water price increase in Chongqing, and toquantify the willingness-to-pay for water service improvement of the affected population in the urban areas covered by the regional water transfer projects and other water development projects.
Based on areas where the World Bank Loanfinanced the small towns water projects in Chongqing, the scope of survey area in this project consists of Shapingba District, Jiulongpo District, Bishan County, Yongchuan City, Tongnan County and Dianjiang County, and the survey in Shapingba and Jiulongpo mainly focused on the small towns. This project was established initially in early 2006, and problem identification and questionnaire design started in March 2006. The questionnaires were designed based on the ones used in a World Bank project in India, and were revised to fit the objectives and background of this project and local situation. Pretest of questionnaire was commenced in June 2006, based on which the length, contents and appropriateness of the questions were evaluated and improved. The main revisions after the pretest were: (1) the scope of willingness to pay were enlarged to cover all of the possibilities from RMB Yuan 0.5 to RMB Yuan 15; (2) the ways of asking and the order of questions were changed and enriched, and the original one questionnaire for residential costumers was altered to 8 different questionnaires; and (3) the length of the questionnaires were limited so that it could be finished in 30 minutes. The full survey was conducted from July to August. Initially, the respondents were determined to be 2575 households and 50 industries/enterprises/institutions, however, as the air temperature of Chongqing was often higher than 40 centigrade degree during that period, the implementation of survey was seriously affected, the progress was postponed, and the sampling decision was affected as well. As a result, 2308 households accepted the interview survey and 1942 questionnaires were valid. Strict quality control measures were adopted throughout the implementation of on-site interview survey.
During the on-site survey, although the actual number of respondents was a little different from the pre-arranged one due to time limitation every day and for various reasons, identification of basic condition of survey indicated that the samples were consistent with the real condition for the regional sample distribution, income level, age, educational level and house type of the respondentson each survey site, showing that the sampleswererepresentative and the results were reliable statistically.
It has been found that the present situation of water services in western areas of Chongqing is not optimal. Currently, municipal water supply (both private connection and public connection), private water supply and bottled water (including that from water vendors) were all usedon the survey sites. 60% households usedmunicipal water supply (private connection) and 27.6% households combined municipal water supply and other water sources. However, the municipal water supply was not under good condition, especially in small towns in Shapingba District, Jiulongpo District and YongchuanCity. There were many problems with the quantity, quality, and safety of public water supply. Municipal water supply in urban areas of the counties/cities was relatively better. Water shortage was very common in small towns, and it was very serious when the survey was conducted because the city was suffering from a serious drought. In addition, water prices in small towns were not as low as expected, and were evenhigher than in urban areas in some cases. It was perhaps because that the scale of water supply was too small and thus the cost for each household was much higher. This kind of mismatching of relatively higher water price with relatively lower income level posed a challenging topic that ought to be studied in the future.
It was found that household water consumption increased accordant to monthly revenue of the household; and the higher household revenue, the higher water consumption. Mid-class households (RMB Yuan 3000~5000/ household-month), whose consumption of water varied around6.51 m3 per month per household, had significant influence on total water consumption. Water consumption of low income households (RMB Yuan 200~400/ household-month) was less than 2.81m3/month-houseohold, which was apparently much lower than that of middle-income household (≥RMB Yuan1500/household-month). This is perhaps because households with higher income had higher economic affordability (capacity of acceptance), better sanitation and water supply facilities, and better water use condition.
The overall satisfaction of the residents to the municipal water supply was not so high and only about 70% interviewees were satisfied. However, even considering the influence of small towns where people were less satisfied in general, the residential satisfaction to urban water services appeared to be higher than the results of the other survey studies respectively in 2001 (financed by the World Bank) and in 2004 (organized by ourselves), both of which were focused on urban areas that had better water supply arrangement. This showed that social impacts of the last water pricing system adjustment based on last survey were acceptable, and willingness-to-pay survey study was valuable for water pricing system reform.Residents inperipheral towns had lower satisfaction rate compared to urban areas. One of the potential reasons was the poor quality and management/administration of municipal water supply, which was also showed in the survey; and thus, it was very important to speed up the institutional reform of water managementto eliminate the negative impacts of the rising water price.
Based on statistical analysis of willingness to pay, water price in western small towns in Chongqing could beincreased, but the scale was very limited. During data processing and analysis, the residential household incomewas divided into 5 categories(levels) based on the general classification method in Chongqing. For each category, statistical analysis was done.Based on the statistics, a concept of comprehensive index of acceptance (CIA) for each income category was proposed to represent the general willingness to pay and to integrate the differences between each price in a specific income category. Finally, corresponding weight-based calculation and analysis method was presented. By using CIA, the general attitudesto the preset water prices of each income category could be analyzed, and the influence of income level on water price was analyzed on this basis as well.
In addition, the concept of acceptable water price threshold（AWPT）was proposed. Generally, whether a water price is acceptable or not can be inferred from the willingness-to-pay survey directly, and the water price recommendation can therefore be determined. This is definitely true for a single household.However, the willingness to pay of each income group, and even of different households in the same income group, was different. So it is necessary to design an extra method to collect the overall attitudes and generate a water price that could be commonly accepted by most, if not all, of the income groups—this price was called AWPT. It could be also defined in another way as the water price determined by the turning point from acceptance to non-acceptance on the water price-willingness (expressed by CIA) curve. It can be calculated by graphical method. The key findings are: (1) in the main urban area of Dianjiang, present water price is RMB Yuan 1.8~2.28/m3 and the AWPT is RMB Yuan 2.54 perm3, showing that the acceptable adjustment space is only RMB Yuan 0.26~0.74 per m3; (2) in the main urban area of Bishan, present water price is RMB Yuan 2.6~3.2/m3 and the AWPT is RMB Yuan 2.69 per m3, showing that there is no acceptable adjustment space at all; and therefore, water price reform should be conducted carefully; (3) in the towns of Shapingba, present water price is RMB Yuan 2.4~2.8/m3 and the AWPT is RMB Yuan 2.76 per m3, showing that the acceptable adjustment space is very small, and in some towns, there is no room for price increase; (4) in the towns of Jiulongpo, present water price is RMB Yuan 1.9~2.2/m3 and the AWPT is RMB Yuan 2.76 per m3, showing that the acceptable adjustment space is relatively big and can be up to RMB Yuan 0.56~0.86 per m3. Though there is incremental potential, stable and gradual increase is required; (5) in the towns of Yongchuan, present water price is RMB Yuan 1.8~2.7/m3 and the AWPT is RMB Yuan 2.72 per m3, showing that the acceptable adjustment space is only RMB Yuan 0.02~0.92 per m3; and (6) in the urban areas of Tongnan, present water price is RMB Yuan 2.08/m3 and the AWPT is RMB Yuan 2.43 per m3, showing that the acceptable adjustment space is only RMB Yuan 0.35/m3. Quality of water services should be greatly improved and guaranteed during water price adjustment, and corresponding subsidy policies should be adopted for all of the surveyed areas as part of the water price reform. For the two water transfer projects from the Yangtze River, it is risky to completely rely on water tariff revenues to recover the costsbecause the costs of water supply in the future will be very high;if water tariff revenue is the only source, the water price should be unacceptably high.