São Paulo – Brazil has become a model country in water resource management, and is going to show it to the world late this month at the World Water Forum, to be held from March 16 to 22, in Istanbul, Turkey. More than ten years ago, the country began developing a model of participative management for its river basins. What happens in practice is that federal- and state-level governments, users, universities, non-governmental organisations and cities manage the use of river waters together.
The information was supplied by Benedito Braga, vice president of the World Water Council and director of the National Water Agency (ANA), an organisation linked to the Brazilian federal government that coordinates the water management program in Brazil. According to Benedito, the system has already been implemented in the country in seven federal basins and 140 state-level basins. State-level basins are those located within one single state, and federal ones are those that cross state borders, and are therefore under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
According to Braga, Brazil is one of the most advanced countries in water resource management and holds 12% of the world’s fresh water reserves. The director of the ANA tells the story of river Verde Grande, which passes through the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. Due to a dispute for water usage between local farmers, who used to make dams in order to use the water for themselves, the river’s usage licence was suspended. After the participative system was implemented, water from the river started being used again.
Brazil adopts other actions in water management as well, such as the use of cisterns in the Northeast, where rain falls mostly at certain times of the year. The cisterns allow for the storage of rainwater, captured from the roofs of houses, for the periods of drought. Even though the country has the largest volume of fresh water in the world, 70% of it is located in the Amazon, which only houses 7% of the population, whereas the Northeast has 30% of the population, and only 3% of the water.
According to Braga, the main topic for discussion in this forum is water supply and sanitation. One of the key concerns is the growing urbanisation of the world. Climate change will also be on the agenda. The director of ANA explains that if the water is efficiently managed, there should be no scarcity problems in the future. The aim of the forum in Istanbul is precisely to have different regions of the world share experiences in water management and use, to ensure sustainability.
Arab day
The forum is going to have one day for the Americas, one for Europe and one for the Arab states, among others. According to Braga, the Arabs have also made great progress in the field of water resources and have even created the Arab Water Council. Brazil is going to take approximately 150 people to the meeting, including government, civil society and private initiative representatives, as well as politicians. Representatives of a total of 150 countries are expected to attend.
According to figures supplied by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), more than 1 billion people worldwide have no access to fresh water. One child dies every 19 seconds as a consequence of lack of sanitation. The World Water Forum has been promoted by the World Water Council every three years since 1997. The first edition was held in Marrakech, in Morocco.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
