Water Services Act, 1997 (Act No. 108 of 1997)NoticesNorms and Standards for Tariff Setting, 2024 - effective 1 April 2026Norms and Standards in respect of Tariffs for Water Supply Services directly to consumers21. Drought tariffs and seasonal tariffs |
| (1) | A WSA/WSP may determine and levy a drought tariff when abstraction of water gets restricted due to drought and on condition that it has been declared by the relevant authority. |
| (a) | a WSA/WSP must follow the same procedure as described in these norms and standards when setting and approving drought tariffs: |
| (i) | if drought tariffs have not been approved as part of the water supply tariffs, a WSA/WSP must follow the processes described in these norms and standards before implementing drought tariffs; |
| (ii) | drought tariffs shall not apply to the first or lowest tariff block as described in sub-regulation 18(2)(a)(iii) or to the first tariff block with FBW supply as described in sub-regulation 18(2)(b); and |
| (b) | the implementation of the drought tariff shall be triggered by restrictions on raw water abstractions as a reaction to the drought conditions. |
| (c) | every WSA/WSP shall, under the circumstances above, revise the budget and calculate a new tariff based on the revised budget and the restricted water volumes. |
| (d) | a WSA/WSP must: |
| (i) | use a tariff that minimises the economic and social costs related to water conservation measures; |
| (ii) | use a tariff that will encourage households to reduce consumption to the sustainable drought level within the restrictions with little time lag; and |
| (iii) | consider the reliability of supply during drought by assessing the water resources available to the area prior to the declaration of drought in that area; |
| (iv) | a WSA/WSP must provide households with prior notification of the implementation of drought tariffs or the activation of water conservation measures using at least two sources of media. |
| (2) | A WSA/WSP may determine and levy a tariff that seeks to promote Water Conservation and Water Demand Management in the area of supply. |
| (a) | a WSA/WSP may determine and approve a seasonal tariff within its area of supply . |
| (b) | the purpose of the seasonal tariff is solely to manage water demand and promote water conservation during peak seasons; |
| (c) | the application and approval of a seasonal tariff will follow the same procedure as prescribed under regulation 6; and |
| (d) | a WSA/WSP must notify households of the implementation of seasonal tariffs via the same process of disclosing water supply tariffs as described in sub-regulation 22(1). |