Before reading this article, do a simple exercise: ask a few relatives about their level of water consumption and the amount of their bill. Result ? There is a good chance that they will ignore one or the other. Perhaps you too, moreover, while the price of electricity is often much better known, scrutinized, and its increases widely commented on. A problematic situation at a time of great questions about the availability and uses of water resources, moved from the “abundant” box to the mention “to be preserved”. Regarding this lack of knowledge, Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of Toulouse, spins the metaphor: “It’s as if you were driving on the highway in your car without a speedometer.”
The 850,000 inhabitants of the Toulouse metropolis will notice, from June 1 and until October 30, a notable change in their water bill: an increase of 42%. Or 4.40 euros per cubic meter (thousand liters). The price, on the other hand, will fall by 30% over the other seven months of the year, to 2.58 euros per m³. At constant consumption, over the year, these fluctuations were designed to “neutralize themselves financially”, assures the councilor. The objective is obviously to move towards even more rational use of the tap, especially when the Garonne is reduced to a trickle in the heart of summer. Toulouse Métropole thus becomes the largest French population area to take the seasonal rate step. It is part of the dynamic of other urban areas which have been experimenting with new water pricing in recent years. The sign of a real questioning. And a current model that has become obsolete?
Since the 1960s, in France, the public water service has been governed by a fundamental principle: “water pays for water.” Understand: the user – and not the taxpayer – finances the equipment and maintenance of the drinking water and sanitation networks via their bill. The price is set by the communities and varies according to the territories: the Bretons and the Normans, for example, pay more than the inhabitants of Occitanie or Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur. According to latest official data, as of January 1, 2022, the average price of water was 4.34 euros per m³, all taxes included. Relative to one liter: 0.004 euro cents. A very modest amount compared to bottled water, and lower compared to the price charged by our European neighbors.
A wall of investment
This dogma was established to put an end to certain abuses, such as spending directed locally towards projects without any link with the precious resource. “It worked well… Until we had shortages. We noticed that this doctrine was starting to be undermined,” summarizes economist Christophe Defeuilley, researcher at the Urban School of Sciences Po Paris and author of Public water policy. Governing a common good (ed. Le Bord de L’eau, 2024). “The summer of 2022 was a turning point, confirms Arnaud Bazire, general manager of Suez Eau France and president of the Professional Federation of Water Companies (FP2E). Even if France is not the Sahel, we are “It has been realized that water is perhaps no longer an inexhaustible good…” And that, faced with climate change and the passage of time, the existing model is beginning to crack like soil subjected to intense drought.
“The doctrine ‘water pays for water’ is practicable to the extent that the networks are financed. However, we are arriving at the end of a cycle. We will have to renovate those which are 50 or 60 years old. How do we do this? Are we facing this wall of investment?” asks Alexandre Mayol, lecturer in economics at the University of Lorraine and specialist on the subject. Pipes, factories, reservoirs… Drinking water and sanitation networks, long neglected, require serious and costly upgrading. “If we had to renew everything next year, we would have to spend between 500 and 600 billion euros,” estimates Régis Taisne, head of the “Water Cycle” department at the National Federation of Granting and Governed Communities (FNCCR). ). Nearly six billion euros are invested each year in the renovation of these infrastructures. According to experts, between three and six more per year are needed between now and 2030 to catch up in this area. Or at least to plug some of the leaks that leak nearly a billion m³ of water per year, the equivalent of the consumption of a quarter of French people.
“Imbalance in our model”
Water authorities or companies benefiting from delegated management must also deal with ever-increasing health requirements. Guaranteeing quality drinking water or treating wastewater has a price, and this skyrockets when tackling pollution, the list of which is growing: chemicals, pesticides, PFAS, microplastics, traces medicines or cosmetics… Not to mention the new skills assigned to intercommunal authorities, particularly concerning the protection of biodiversity. Problem: “we will have to finance investments which will not bring in anything, services which are good for the environmental sphere but which we cannot commodify or promote”, summarizes the economist Christophe Defeuilley. “Renovating pipes, let’s be frank, it doesn’t bring anything politically and you will never recover your costs,” adds his colleague Alexandre Mayol.
Especially since another trend complicates the equation: the reduction in water consumption. Good news for the preservation of the resource. But which consequently causes a reduction in water billing bases. Fewer volumes sold means less money recovered, since “the financing method is essentially based on these. “There is an imbalance in our model”, agrees Arnaud Bazire, of FP2E. In this context, an increase in price seems inexorable, all the experts interviewed agree.
From 4.34 euros to almost 8?
The same question then comes up again and again: who are we going to place it on? The so-called “domestic” user will not escape this. If we really wanted to assume all the investments, the share of the water bill dedicated to direct charges (i.e. around 80%, the rest being made up of taxes and fees) would have to increase by half, according to the calculations of Régis Taisne, of the FNCCR. The price per m³ would thus be around 8 euros. “But we must not forget the principle of equity in terms of access to water,” he adds, referring to the most vulnerable populations. “Neither stop at household consumption alone,” warns Nicolas Garnier, general delegate of Amorce, a national association of local authorities and local actors for the management of waste, energy and water. Both immediately mention the “very imperfectly applied” “polluter pays” measure, that is to say, that which places the costs of depollution on those who pollute. A principle to be broadened and strengthened in the light of emerging phenomena and the additional expenses generated.
If, according to Nicolas Garnier, “those who pollute the most do not pay, those who consume the most pay almost nothing”. In France, recalls Amorce, the volumes of water withdrawals from agriculture and industry are much higher than those from homes. The association, which is working on a proposed law relating to the ecological transition of water management, is pushing for better monitoring of the use of the precious liquid among large consumers, as well as a more adapted contribution to the service. audience.
“The discourse is changing”
On the household side, a model is gaining notoriety: progressive pricing. That is to say a price per m³ which increases as consumption increases. Emmanuel Macron himself, as part of his water plan, supported this practice. Cities like Dunkirk, one of the pioneers in this area, Montpellier and Libourne have already implemented it; Lyon will switch to it on January 1, 2025. Others have studied it without having validated it (Grenoble) or have returned from it (Bordeaux). Because an opinion from the Economic, Social and Environmental Council delivered last November has cooled the ardor of those who saw this tariff system as the miracle solution. The Cese in fact considered that “the conditions for generalization” were “not met”, and in passing warned “about the end of ‘cheap’ water in the short or medium term”.
These trials and errors to find a fair system for financing water, both social and environmental, nevertheless have the merit of bringing the subject out of its inertia. “The discourse is changing, appreciates Alexandre Mayol. Ten years ago, an obsession among elected officials was to want to make people pay ever less. Even, particularly on the left, to say that water was free. Today, this idea is starting to pass: water has a cost, therefore a price, therefore also a scarcity.” When will the next major water law be in France?
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