The objective of this article is to contribute for the viability of the sustainable management of the water resources of the Rio de Janeiro state. It systemizes some reflections resultant of 5 years of participation and observation of the Water Resources State Politics implementation process, during the period of March 2000 to June 2004, complemented with researching and analyses of the institutional-legal set of norms, visits and informal conversation with employees of the agencies of the state public power and readings of rules of law collections. In conclusion, it is affirmative that the State that proclaims as its, the functions of the public good management, of maker and keeper of the laws and, mainly, of equanimity at the performance of its role, discloses, in practice, its ineptitude to fulfill these functions and even, its predilection for exerting them, depending on the social and/or relational situation of the people or groups involved.
institutional analysis; Rio de Janeiro; water public administration; water sustainable management