Agricultural Policy Research Center and Energy and Environment Policy Research Center are working on a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on draft Law on Irrigation/Drainage and methodology for irrigation/drainage tariff calculation in Georgia. The report will make recommendations on different policy options for developing an efficient system of Irrigation and Drainage services in the country.

The Government of Georgia (GoG) in cooperation and support of international donors intends to reform the amelioration (irrigation and drainage) sector in Georgia. The reform envisages elaborating sector development strategy, introducing a new amelioration law, and developing a methodology for setting tariffs on irrigation and drainage services.

According to the main objectives of the draft law, it aims to promote economically efficient and sustainable use of water resources and water infrastructure assets through the development of a regulatory framework incorporating tariff calculation methodology. This framework is proposed to ensure sufficient revenue streams for the sustainability and viability of service providers as well as ensuring reliability and sector-appropriate standards of service delivery. The draft law will be accompanied by the different options for irrigation/drainage tariff methodology – Lower Bound Pricing and Upper Bound Pricing.

The ISET team will conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on irrigation/drainage tariff methodology and will recommend the best policy from the findings to Georgian stakeholders.