WAREG is the Association of European Regulators in the drinking water and wastewater sector. The association is formed by public authorities responsible for economic regulation in the drinking water and wastewater sector. Its primary mission is to promote closer collaboration, knowledge exchange, and capacity-building among its members, while supporting the implementation of European water legislation.
WAREG is a member of the consortium for the WATERUN project. As a collaborative effort to develop a methodology for managing urban water runoff in cities, this project presents an opportunity to promote a more sustainable and effective approach to urban water management in Europe.
WAREG’s role in the project will be to conduct a policy and economic regulation analysis of urban water runoff management. This analysis will include benchmarking the legal and governance framework for urban water runoff management at different levels, evaluating potential reforms to enable the implementation of WATERUN solutions, and identifying regulatory barriers at the EU, national, and local levels. Furthermore, we will perform an economic regulation analysis of public services for urban water runoff management, exploring the potential for territorial, centralised, and local allocation of regulatory tasks.
Through our involvement in the WATERUN project, we aim to identify the most effective governance layer of intervention for sound regulation of UWR and analyse best practices to leverage investment in public infrastructures, specifically urban drainage systems, through tariffs. Additionally, we will analyse tariff methodologies in selected countries to understand the most effective strategies to promote a transformative regulatory framework.
Our ultimate goal is to deliver the most suitable instruments and solutions to ensure the sound regulation of urban water runoff management. With the implementation of these solutions, we believe that urban water management can become more sustainable and effective in European cities.
WATERUN Dissemination objectives (OiEau, 2022)
Authors: Ramon DOMENECH, WAREG, rdomenech@wareg.org (12/04/2023)