Abstract
As a result of the increasing global awareness about the importance of water, many developed and developing countries have reviewed their water resources management policies and laws. In Brazil, Law 9,433, enacted in (1997), establishes the National Water Resources Policy (NWRP) and the National Water Resource Management System (NWRMS), introducing a new integrated approach to water resources management through the application of planning and economic instruments. At the institutional level, this brought many changes. A new institutional framework was established with the creation of river basin committees and water agencies. Almost 15 years after the Law took effect, these changes are still being implemented, and some adjustments have been necessary. In light of the Brazilian NWRP, this paper presents and analyzes the legal and institutional reform that has been taking place in Brazil’s water resources sector since 1997. An initial analysis shows that today, the implementation process still faces many challenges, hindering the effective consolidation of the instruments set out by Law 9,433/1997. The paper concludes that although Brazil’s model is generally in line with international trends, and despite the major progress that has been made to date, in some hydrographic regions the instruments conceived in the country’s model are still in the incipient stage of implementation, indicating that greater efforts are necessary, some of which are suggested in this article.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- ANA:
-
National Water Agency
- CWA:
-
Clean Water Act
- IWRM:
-
Integrated Water Resources Management
- NWC:
-
National Water Commission
- NWI:
-
National Water Initiative
- NWQMS:
-
National Water Quality Management Strategy
- NWRC:
-
National Water Resources Council
- NWRMS:
-
National Water Resources Management System
- NWRP:
-
National Water Resources Policy
- RBC:
-
River Basin Committees
- RBMP:
-
River Basin Management Plans
- SHR:
-
State Hydrographic Regions
- SWRC:
-
State Water Resources Councils
- SWRI:
-
State Water Resources Management Institutions
- US:
-
United States
- US-ACE:
-
United States Army Corps of Engineers
- WA:
-
Water Agencies
- WFD:
-
Water Framework Directive
- WRC:
-
Water Resources Council
- WRDA:
-
Water Resources Development Act
- WRM:
-
Water Resources Management
- WRPA:
-
Water Resources Planning Act
- WRP:
-
Water Resources Planning
References
Agência Nacional de Águas, ANA (2009) Conjuntura dos Recursos Hídricos no Brasil. Brasília, Brazil. Available at: http://www.ana.gov.br
Agência Nacional de Águas, ANA (2010) Conjuntura dos Recursos Hídricos no Brasil. Brasília, Brazil. Available at: http://www.ana.gov.br
Agência Nacional de Águas, ANA (2011) Conjuntura dos Recursos Hídricos no Brasil. Brasília, Brazil. Available at: http://www.ana.gov.br
Barraqué B (2001) Les Agences de l’eau françaises : un modele pour le Bresil? IV Diálogo Interamericano de Gerenciamento de Águas. Rede Interamericana de Recursos Hídricos. Brazil. Avaiable at: http://www.ivdialogo.com/principal.htm
Berbel J, Martin-Ortega J, Mesa P (2011) A cost-effectiveness analysis of water-saving measures for the water framework directive: the case of the Guadalquivir river basin in Southern Spain. Water Resour Manag Springer Sci 25:623–640. doi:10.1007/s11269-010-9717-6
Braga BPF, Flecha R, Penna, DS, Kelman J (2006) A Reforma Institucional do Setor de Recursos Hídricos. In Águas Doces no Brasil: capital ecológico, uso e conservação, 1:639–675, 3rd Edition. Escrituras Editora. ISBN 85-86303-41-0
Braga BPF, Flecha R, Thomas P, Cardoso W, Coelho AC (2009) Integrated water resources management in a Federative Country: the case of Brazil. Int J Water Resour Dev 25(4):611–628
Carvalho RC, Magrini A (2006) Conflicts over water resource management in Brazil: a case study of inter-basin transfers. Water Resour Manag 20:193–213. doi:10.1007/s11269-006-7377-3C
Comisión Nacional del Agua, CONAGUA (2008) National Water Program 2007–2012. ISBN 978-968-817-893-5. Mexico. Available at: www.conagua.gob.mx
Connell D (2011) Water reform and the Federal system in the Murray-Darling basin water resources management. Avaiable Online. doi:10.1007/s11269-011-9897-8
Correljé A, François D, Verbeke T (2007) Integrating water management and principles of policy: towards an EU framework? J Clean Prod Elsevier Sci 15:1499–1506
Elabras-Veiga LB (2010) Dez anos da Lei n°. 9.433 de 1997: atual estágio de implementação e comparação com a Legislação Internacional de Gestão de Recursos Hídricos. Relatório de Pesquisa, Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa no Estado do Rio de Janeiro – FAPERJ. Brasil
Elabras-Veiga LB, Magrini A (2011) Water resources management: Suggestions to the Brazilian model based on the American Experience. WIT Press. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment. ISSN:1743-3541
Guimarães L, Magrini A (2007) A proposal of indicators for sustainable development in the management of river basins. Water Resour Manag 22:1191–1202. doi:10.1007/s11269-007-9220-x
IBGE (2012) Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Avaiable at: http://www.ibge.org.br
Law 9,433 (1997) Available at http://www.ana.gov.br/Legislacao/default2.asp
Law 9,984 (2000) Available at http://www.ana.gov.br/Legislacao/default2.asp
Law 10,881 (2004) Avaiable at http://www.ana.gov.br/legislacao/default2.asp
Ling Tan P, Jackson S, Oliver P, Mackenzie J, Proctor W, Ayre M (2008) Collaborative water planning: Context and practice literature review, V.1, Griffith University, Australia, ISBN: 978-1-921544-15-6
Liu B, Speed R (2009) Water Resources Management in the People’s Republic of China. Water Resour Dev 25(2):193–208. doi:10.1080/07900620902868596
Machado CJS, Miranda N, Pinheiro AAS (2002) A Nova Aliança entre Estado e Sociedade na Administração da Coisa Pública: Descentralização e Participação na Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos. In Machado CJS (Org), Gestão de Água Doce: Usos Múltiplos, Políticas Públicas e Exercício da Cidadania no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. UERJ
Magrini A, Santos M (2001) River basin management and the national water resources policy in Brazil. In Brebbia CA, Anagnostopoulos P, Katsifarakis K, Cheng AH-D (Org) Water resources management. Southampton, v. 4, pp. 79–88
Martin-Ortega J, Giannoccaro G, Berbel J (2011) Environmental and resource costs under water scarcity conditions: an estimation in the context of the European water framework directive. Water Resour Manag. doi:10.1007/s11269-010-9764-z, published online
National Water Initiative–NWI (2004). Council of Australian Governments - COAG. Avaiable at: http://www.nwc.gov.au/
Raadgevera GT, Dieperinkb C, Driessenb PPJ, Smitb AAH, van Rijswickc HFMW (2010) Uncertainty management strategies: lessons from the regional implementation of the water framework directive in the Netherlands. Environ Sci Policy. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2010.11.001
Rebouças AC (2006) Água Doce no Mundo e no Brasil. In Águas Doces no Brasil: capital ecológico, uso e conservação. 1:1–35. 3rd Edition. ISBN 85-86303-41-0
Shen D (2004) The 2002 Water Law: its impacts on river basin management in China. Water Policy 6:345–364
Tortajada C (2005) River basin management: Approaches in Mexico, VertigO- La revue en sciences de l’environnement, Hors série no 1. Mexico
Tucci C (2001) Existe Falta de Água no Brasil? In Jornal da Universidade, UFRGS, Porto Alegre. Brazil
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO (2009) Water in a changing world. The United Nations World Water Development report. ISBN: 978-1-84407-839-4
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (2010) National report: Responding to National Water Resources challenges. USA
US Code (2010) Title 42, chapter 19b. Available at: http://law.justia.com/codes/us/2010/title42/
Water Framework Directive –WFD (2000) European Commission Environment. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html 2000
Water Law (2002) National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, China. Avaiable at: http://www.china.org.cn/
Water Act (2007) Act No. 137 of 2007 as amended up to Act No. 5 of 2011, Com Law Authoritative Act C2011C00160 .Commonwealth of Australia. Available at: http://www.comlaw.gov.au
Yang YS,Wang L (2010) A review of modeling tools for implementation of the EU water framework directive 598 in handling diffuse water pollution. Water Resour Manag 24:1819–1843. doi:10.1007/s11269-009-9526-y
Acknowledgments
We thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa no Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) for the pos-doctoral grant making possible the development of this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Elabras Veiga, L.B., Magrini, A. The Brazilian Water Resources Management Policy: Fifteen Years of Success and Challenges. Water Resour Manage 27, 2287–2302 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-013-0288-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-013-0288-1