The charge for water, according to the state, is one of the tools used to manage water resources. According to the ANA (National Water Agency) collection is a public price to be paid, determined from a pact between water users, civil society and government within the basin committee, with technical support from the ANA.

The practice was instituted by Law No. 9433 of 8 January 1997, aiming to encourage the rational use of water and generate financial resources for investments to restore and preserve the watershed basins. This is because, according to the ANA, "the shortfall in quantity or quality, caused the water to cease being a free good and began to have an economic value. This brought an aggravating factor for resource management, which implies the use of regulatory and economic instruments such as the collection of usage ".