Main future activity directions have been presented in 2023 WAREG KPIs Report drafted by a working group chaired by EWRC representative Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev, WAREG vice-president
The development of water services standardization framework in view of the diverse monitoring and regulatory approaches in the water sector applied by water regulators in EU, has a key role in improving water services quality and efficiency in European countries. There is an urgent need to align national regulatory frameworks with evolving EU legislative requirements in the context of environmental sustainability and climate change.
These are some of the main highlights and conclusions of the 2023 WAREG KPIs Report, which the Association of European Water Regulators (WAREG) has published this week. The research reflects the results of a two-year study on practices and methodologies for benchmarking and the assessment process of the efficiency and quality of WSS implemented by water regulators in Europe. The working group that carried out the study was chaired by Mr. Ivaylo Kastchiev, WAREG vice-president, Water and Sanitation Services director at EWRC.
In an interview on the WAREG website Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev presented the main aspects and conclusions of the report and its role in supporting water regulators in decision-making. The importance of process indicators for improving water and sanitation services sustainability was also highlighted in the interview. It was emphasized that 2023 KPIs Report was highly appreciated by WAREG for its comprehensiveness and critical forecasts, which were a valuable resource for the decision-making of policymakers, regulators and stakeholders in the global water and sanitation sector.
The report prepared in 2022-2023 presented detailed information on water regulation practices applied by WAREG national regulators. During the 15 workshops and seminars held, the experience of obtaining reporting data from water supply operators by the regulatory authorities has been studied. Techniques and tools to check the accuracy and reliability of the reported data have been assessed, as well as the regulatory practices and methods for setting targets. A significant place was also devoted to the tools for monitoring and evaluating the water supply operators’ results and an analysis was carried out of the possibilities to link performance indicators levels with tariff setting. The report also included information on the possible regulatory actions when the set goals have not been achieved. In order to ensure maximum publicity KPIs Report 2023 set out regulatory authorities' practices for announcing performance indicator levels and benchmark assessments. There was a section dedicated to examining the methodologies, definitions, formulas and computational variables used by regulators for the different performance indicators.
The 2023 KPIs Report study analysed a total of 425 KPIs applied by 19 regulatory authorities. The various indicators used have been considered in five main categories - service coverage; service quality; environment; asset efficiency and economic efficiency. The KPIs in these 5 categories were then structured in 23 sub-categories in order to clarify the similarities and differences in the methodologies, definitions of variables, units of measurement and methods of calculation used.
The two-year 2023 KPIs Report survey sets out the previous studies and opinions’ results on various water regulation aspects - the 2017 Water Efficiency Assessment Report, WAREG position on the new 2018 EU Drinking Water Quality Directive, as well as the study of tariff regulatory frameworks in WAREG member countries, conducted in 2019. For his active participation in the studies, Dr. Ivaylo Kastchiev was awarded a plaque of appreciationby the Association of European Water Regulators in 2019.
In December 2023, WAREG held the 3rd European Forum on the Regulation of Water Services, where Dr. Kastchiev presented the results of the process methodologies study examined from the point of view of monitoring the effectiveness and the resilience of WSS and climate change impact.
