A fee will be charged in Kyrgyzstan for the use of surface water. The draft government decree was submitted for public discussion.
«Today, economic entities, because of the lack of payment for the use of water as a natural resource, low tariffs for water supply services, inadequate control of water use and lack of adequate degree of responsibility, use water wastefully, irrationally,» the Ministry of Agriculture notes.
Surface waters are those that flow or are accumulated on the land surface. There are lake, river, swamp and others.
The introduction of a payment will stimulate the economical use of surface waters, protection of water resources and the formation of financial resources for the management, study, accounting and assessment of water resources, their reproduction and protection, and restoration of natural water bodies, the Ministry of Agriculture stressed.
The Water Code of the Kyrgyz Republic implies payment for the use of water as a natural resource, but since October 1, 2016, the Temporary procedure for determining and charging fees for the use of surface waters is no longer valid.
The size of the fee will be set on the basis of the costs of state organizations and institutions involved in the management, assessment, protection of water resources, protection from harmful impacts, as well as the costs of the work of the State Water Administration and taking into account the forecasted level of inflation.
The volume of collected water is determined on the basis of the readings of the meter devices. In the absence of such devices, the water intake is calculated according to the operating time and productivity of the technical means.
The fee is charged from all water users, regardless of their organizational and legal forms and forms of ownership.
Fee is not charged from:
— population consuming water for drinking;
— households that take water directly from water bodies (natural watercourses, lakes) for the needs of a personal farmstead, including irrigation of a household plot and watering a livestock in the household, except for farmers taking water from the irrigation network (canals, irrigation canals );
— taking of water for fire extinguishing, liquidation of natural disasters and consequences of accidents;
— sanitary and ecological water passes.
Kyrgyzstan uses 20-25 percent of the available water reserves. The rest of the flow runs to the territory of neighboring states: Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
