The Governance of Water Regulators

The establishment of dedicated regulatory bodies in charge of regulating water services, whilst being recent, is nevertheless a consistent trend among OECD and non-OECD countries. This report presents a picture as of September 2014 of the governance arrangements, operational modalities and use of regulatory tools across a sample of 34 established water regulators. It relies on the OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy: The Governance of Regulators to structure the information collected through a survey exercise. It has been developed in close co-operation with the OECD Network of Economic Regulators (NER).

The results from the survey show that the 34 water regulators show generally a high level of adoption of good governance principles and practices. They display functions and powers that are in line with their objectives. Water regulators also show a strong culture of consultation. Other areas, in particular evaluation of regulatory impacts, could be further strengthened.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Acronyms and abbreviations

Executive summary

Chapter 1. Overview of regulatory frameworks for water services in selected countries

Chapter 2. Results of OECD Survey on the Governance of Water Regulators

Chapter 3. Water regulators factsheets

Annex A. Participants in OECD Survey on the Governance of Water Regulators

Annex B. Water tariff setting methodologies in selected territories

Annex C. Selected examples of water performance indicators

Glossary

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