Greens get it half right

The Greens have announced their water policy. One item is:

Introduce mandatory metering on all water takes for commercial use

Now I support them on this. Users of water, a limited resource at times, should pay for it.

But they should be consistent and also support water meters for all users. Why should the 80 year old granny who uses 25 litres of water a day pay the same for her water as the family down the road with a spa pool and use 200 litres a day?

They do say:

Support councils to use water meters for each residence and commercial property, so that water use is monitored and recorded for educational purposes and promotion of water conservation and demand side management.

That is a useful step, but again not enough. Water is not free and never has been unless you catch your own. The debate is how you pay for it – should you pay for it based on the value of your property, or based on a flat standard charge, or based on how much water you actually use.

Only the last scenario will see better water conservation. They again go half way there:

Allow councils to adopt a progressive charging system for water when deemed necessary. In such a system the first unit, which provides for commencement and continuation of water supply and reasonable personal consumption, will be funded from rating revenue and free of direct user charges, while additional units may incur progressively higher direct charges;

I’d just have a flat rate for water – say x cents per 1000 litres.

But overall I give the Greens 7/10 for their water charging policy generally. Note that score doesn’t apply to the rest of their water policy which is full of claptrap about the spiritual life-force of bodies of water and the evil private sector.