Agenda

CONFERENCE DAY ONE: Tuesday 25 August 2009

Day One | Day Two

8.30 Conference registration

9.00 Opening remarks from the chair

WATER PRICING AMIDST
NATIONAL WATER REFORM

"...We have a range of projects in place and they include 5.8 billion dollars to invest in irrigation infrastructure to improve efficiencies to return water to the river, 3.1 billion for purchases of entitlements also to reduce how much we take out of the river to improve health of the Murray and all the rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin."

The Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, 23 March 2009

9.10 The impact/efficacy of the Federal Government's water buyback

• How serious is the government about buyback?
• What is being bought?
• How does this align with policy?
• Likely future scenarios for buyback

Dr. Lin Crase, Executive Director, La Trobe University

9.50 Implications of reform in the water industry

• Overview of developments in the industry
• Emerging pressure points
• The next 5 years

Euan Morton, Principal, Synergies Economic Consulting

10.30 Morning coffee for speakers and delegates

STATE & TERRITORY OUTLOOKS

"I have said since the Government announced plans to take over Council-owned water assets that we could all expect to pay more for water as a result. We don't like having to charge more but there's not much we can do when the Government is charging us more."

Cr Bob Abbot, Mayor, Sunshine Coast Council, 21 April 2009

11.00 CASE STUDY:

Department of Sustainability and Environment Victoria

TBC

11.40 CASE STUDY:

Urban Water Reform in South East Queensland

• Urban Water Reform Program
• Pricing
• Tariff structures
• Opportunities for competition

David Green, Former Commissioner, Queensland Water Commission and Director, Murray Darling Basin Authority

12.20 Lunch for speakers and delegates

1.30 CASE STUDY:

Water Trading from the perspective of IPART

James Cox, CEO, IPART NSW

2.10 CASE STUDY:

Water pricing - the ACT evidence

• Overview of ACT water pricing history
• Issues in estimating the price elasticity of demand for water
• Price elasticity evidence: the ACT and beyond
• Implications for urban water pricing policy

Dr. John Logan, Principal Policy Advisor, Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) ACT

2.50 Afternoon tea

3.20 Water pricing in Western Australia

• Recommendations of the ERA's Inquiry into the Tariffs of the Water Corporation, Aqwest and Busselton Water

Greg Watkinson, Director References and Research, Economic Regulation Authority WA

URBAN WATER FOCUS

"I think it is clear that the consensus science is climate change is happening. It would be irresponsible of us to keep pretending that it is not."

The Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, Australian Government, Interview ABC 891, 24 April 2009

4.00 Urban water pricing in an uncertain world

• The importance of uncertainty and cheap storage to urban water pricing
• Pricing strategies for efficient investment, efficient consumption and supply security
• Implications of increasing uncertainty and an increasing mix of supply sources

Dr. Richard Tooth, Consulting Principal, LECG

4.40 Pricing for a sustainable urban water future

• Scarcity pricing or water restrictions?
• Water efficiency and urban water pricing
• Fourth generation urban water systems

Joanne Chong, Research Principal, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

5.20 Closing remarks from the chair

5.30 Close of conference day one

CONFERENCE DAY TWO: Wednesday 26 August 2009

Day One | Day Two

9.00 Opening remarks from the chair

SPOTLIGHT ON VICTORIA

"The (ESC) has sought to ensure that the costs passed on to customers are fair and reasonable, and that customers are only paying for the services they receive. Melbourne's prolonged drought and ongoing water restrictions means that price rises for water and sewerage use are inevitable, to pay for major projects that help to secure the city's water supplies."

Dr. Ron Ben-David, Chairman, The Essential Services Commission, 21 April 2009

9.10 CASE STUDY:

Relating Price to Value

• Price to customers reflects value rather than "engineering" cost
• Traditionally, regulated tariffs are set according to a view of cost recently included an element of customer willingness-to-pay
• The Victorian Water Grid will open new resource options:
  - Brings with it the possibility of trading
  - Assignment of entitlements will be critical
• At the highest level, trade-off between security of supply and opportunity cost of the water:
  - Practically, trade-off between, for example, customers’ desire to stay off restrictions and the cost of purchasing water to meet that demand
• Creating a more explicit link between the value that customers place on supply and competing values from environment, agriculture etc:
  - Closer to optimal outcome for all interests

Brett Mathieson, Manager Regulation, Yarra Valley Water

9.50 CASE STUDY:

Western Water

• A summary of Western Water's regulatory journey
• Learnings from regulatory period 1 applied to regulatory period 2
• Charges for New Customer Contributions, Trade Waste and Class A Recycled Water

Vicki Pinder, Manager Regulation, Western Water

10.30 Morning coffee for speakers and delegates

11:00 CASE STUDY:

National Farmers' Federation

Deb Kerr, NRM Manager, National Farmers' Federation

WATER MARKETS, REGIONAL
WATER PRICING AND TRADE

"Growers are buying water now with the view of taking it into the next season. It may be that many growers have actually picked up their water for carryover and that's taken a bit of buying demand out of the market."

Mark Siebentritt, Operations Manager, Waterfind, 7 May 2009

11.40 The Australian Water Market - issues and trends

What is Waterfind?

Water Market:

• Characteristics and Purpose
• Current Observations
• Reflections on 2008-09
• Into the Future

Tom Rooney, CEO, Waterfind

12.20 Lunch for speakers and delegates

1.30 Analysing water markets and water accounting in the rural context

• Current trends and dynamics in rural water markets
• Uncertainties in accounting for water movement and use
• Implications for water pricing

Dr. Teri Etchells, Research Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Melbourne

2.10 Insights into why the NSW Irrigators Council opposes trade caps in Victoria
Mark Moore, Policy Analyst, NSW Irrigators Council

2.50 Afternoon tea

3.20 An overview of water markets in the Murray Darling Basin
Arthur Buckingham, Senior Consultant, GHD

4.00 PANEL DISCUSSION:

Water leaders discuss water pricing challenges

Issues to be covered in this panel include:

• Recent changes in legislation and regulation
• Addressing community water pricing concerns
• water savings and efficiency
• Paying for large scale water infrastructure projects

In a Parkinson style format, the chairman will ask a series of questions to each guest. Delegates will then have the opportunity to ask questions of their own from the floor

4.40 Close of conference

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