a third option which is sometimes used for agricultural withdrawals is to base charges on the acreage of irrigated land abstraction and pollution charges set at meaningful levels will create incentives for these utilities to make efficient use of raw water and to treat their wastewater effluents it is customary to levy abstraction charges on nonconsumptive use at a fraction of rates applying to consumptive use w ith the precise rate dependent on sector location and other local circumstances