Agricultural irrigation water price based on full cost recovery:A case study in Ganzhou District of Zhangye Municipality

As an important economic means,water price is a vital part to achieve sustainable use of water resources. Full-cost water pricing considers all the costs in water production process,as well as profits and taxes. It makes water price fully reflecting the value of water resources in scarcity,water supply cost and compensation for recovering the water environment. In this paper,a full-cost water price model is described in detail,and Zhangye Municipality is taken as an example to calculate the full cost water price by using the model in Daman, Ganjun,Shangsan and Wujiang irrigation areas. The price is 0. 16,0. 15,0. 20 and 0. 14 Yuan m- 3for the four areas,respectively. It is revealed that the current price accounts for 62. 5%,66. 67%,50% and 71. 4% of the full cost water price. Besides,after the comparison between current water price and full cost water price,the conclusion can be drawn that the current water price is quite lower than the full-cost water price. Finally,some policy recommendations are put forward to water resources management in the municipality.