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Water agency fees fund water and aquatic environment preservation initiatives.
A reform of these water agency fees came into effect on January 1st January 2025. What are the changes introduced by this reform and their impacts on businesses?
Abolition of the Collection Network Modernization fee
This fee will be abolished on January 1st January 2025. It applied to individuals connected to a collective sanitation system and subject to the non-domestic water pollution fee.
Creation of 3 new fees
Creation of the Drinking Water Consumption fee
This fee applies to individuals subscribed to the drinking water service (excluding livestock farming with a specific meter).
This fee is calculated by multiplying the base by the rate. The fee base is the volume of water billed to the individual subscribed to the drinking water service. Each water agency sets the rate, up to a limit of €1 per m3.
Starting in 2025, the fee will be billed by the water billing service and will appear on the water bill under the "Public Bodies" section.
Creation of the Drinking Water Network Performance and Collective Sanitation System Performance fees
This fee applies respectively to municipalities or their public establishments responsible for drinking water distribution and wastewater sanitation.
They will be passed on to users from 2025 as a surcharge on the price per cubic meter of water sold or treated, and will appear on the bill under the heading 'Public Bodies'.
Changes to the Non-Domestic Water Pollution Charge
Those liable are now industrial entities not connected to the public wastewater collection network (i.e., discharging into the natural environment) if they exceed the parameter thresholds (set out in Article L. 213-10-2 of the Environmental Code and which have not changed).
Industrial entities discharging solely into a collective wastewater treatment network are no longer concerned. Note that they will have to pay the charge in 2025 for the year 2024.
Consequently, SRR (regular discharge monitoring) is now mandatory only for industrial entities not connected to the public wastewater collection network.
Furthermore, the basis for calculating the charge is now increased by 40% when:
- either the theoretical pollution level linked to the activity exceeds the prescribed threshold and an SRR is not implemented;
- or the SRR is not approved.
Changes to the Water Resource Abstraction Charge
For the calculation of this charge, a floor rate (minimum rate) has been introduced. In addition, the ceiling rates (maximum rates) have been increased, notably to account for inflation. The charge rate is thus set by each water agency, by type of use, within the limits of the floor and ceiling rates.
Note: this charge still applies to individuals/entities abstracting water from the resource (e.g., boreholes, wells, etc.) for volumes exceeding 10,000 m3/year (or 7,000m3/year for areas in water distribution zones).
Modifications have also been made regarding the management of abstracted water meters (e.g., in case of breakdowns, non-compliant diagnostics, etc.).
Conclusion
One of the main objectives of this reform is to "gradually rebalance the source of contributions to reduce the water tax burden on households." Businesses, and particularly industrial companies, will therefore be directly impacted by this reform and may see an increase in their fees, whether they pay them directly to the water agency or through their water bills.
Additional resources: Loire-Brittany Water Agency Industrial webinar – https://aides-redevances.eau-loire-bretagne.fr/