23 August 2016
Muscat - The Sultanate's government is undertaking a major review of the water sector -- an exercise that could potentially bring all three constituent elements -- water resources, potable water, and wastewater -- under a unified structure. According to the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW), the review will help "improve coordination" across the different elements of the water sector which are currently managed by multiple bodies. "PAEW is contributing actively to this review and will obviously have an important role to play in the implementation of the final structure once decisions have been reached," the Authority said.

"In the meantime, given the likely introduction of formal regulation in the future, PAEW has been putting in place a shadow structure to ensure that our reporting and decision making processes are ready for the change when it happens. The first fruits of this exercise can be seen in the new corporate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2016 which are much more closely aligned to what would be required under formal regulation," it added in its 2015 Annual Report.

Tasked with overseeing the restructuring exercise is a Water Sector Restructuring Steering Committee which has representatives from the PAEW and other stakeholder bodies. Further studies on the issue are being undertaken through the Nama Group (The Electricity Holding Company), which has appointed a dedicated Project Manager to oversee this effort.

One key outcome of the review is the likelihood that all of the utilities currently owned and managed by the Authority will come under formal external regulation similar to the electricity sector.

Included in the Authority's nationwide potable water distribution and supply infrastructure are transmission lines, reservoirs, pumping stations, wells and well-fields, tanker filling points, and small desalination plants, among other assets.

Significantly, in anticipation of the restructuring of the sector as a regulated activity, the Authority said it has begun putting in place 'shadow' regulatory processes designed to bring its activities into alignment with the regulated structure when eventually announced.

Explaining this initiative, the Authority said: "In order to prepare for this and to improve the transparency of our activities, PAEW has commenced development of internal 'shadow' regulatory processes so that we will be well prepared for the challenges of formal regulation once this arrives."

Also having helped aid this effort was the five-year co-management contract signed with global water services specialist Veolia, which concluded in 2015.  Around 92 per cent of the plans and strategies that emerged from the 5-year contract have been implemented in full, with the Authority currently focused on refreshing the key strategies for the future, it said.

The Authority has seen its potable water production, transmission and distribution infrastructure grow by leaps and bounds from year to year.  Investments in green-field networks and the expansion of existing grids totaled around RO 88 million in 2015, up from RO 90 million a year earlier.

The Authority has over 405,000 registered customers, a figure that grows at an average rate of 3,000 new accounts every month. Private households account for 93 per cent of new registrations.

© Oman Daily Observer 2016