1. Clearly allocate and distinct roles and responsibilities for water policymaking, policy implementation, operational management and regulation, and foster coordination across these responsible authorities. |
Paraíba River Basin |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
Roles are perfectly defined by water laws, but the PNRH (law 9,433/97) and State (law 6,308/96) don’t have all the same management instruments in common. The coordination performed hierarchically, top-down.
|
Reservoir |
5 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
PNRH is well-drafted, with clear roles, but poorly played. Decision-making centralized by the ANA, reducing on-ground results and policy impact.
|
2. Manage water at the appropriate scale(s) within integrated basin governance systems to reflect local conditions, and foster coordination between the different scales. |
Paraíba River Basin |
5 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
AESA with good knowledge of local conditions, but the basin committee does not play its role. Integration, independence, and coordination need to be improved.
|
Reservoir |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
The
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba (2015)
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba – CBH-PB. (2015, 20 de maio). Ata da 1ª reunião extraordinária. Campina Grande.
minutes of meeting shows that ANA fails in considering local conditions. Water management measures were adopted only in critical situations (water scarcity) and not continuously.
|
3. Encourage policy coherence through effective cross-sectoral coordination, especially between policies for water and the environment, health, energy, agriculture, industry, spatial planning, and land use. |
Paraíba River Basin |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Well-drafted sectoral laws, bringing coherence between policies. Poor cross-sectoral coordination, especially concerning spatial planning and land use.
|
Reservoir |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Despite the National Environment Policy (Law 6,938/81), DNOCS (National Department Against Droughts) fails in monitoring the reservoir’s legal preservation zone, which is clandestinely utilized for irrigation and uncontrolled use of pesticides, threatening water quality.
|
4. Adapt the scale of the responsible authorities capacity to the complexity of water challenges to be met, and to the set of competencies required to carry out their duties. |
Paraíba River Basin |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
The AESA does not have the necessary infrastructure to implement and supervise management measures (
Conselho Estadual de Recursos Hídricos, 2017b
Conselho Estadual de Recursos Hídricos – CERH. (2017b, 24 de março). Ata da 39ª reunião ordinária. João Pessoa.
), although there are qualified professionals in the Agency.
|
Reservoir |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
The ANA has well-qualified professionals, but they fail in considering specific knowledge about local conditions (
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba, 2015
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba – CBH-PB. (2015, 20 de maio). Ata da 1ª reunião extraordinária. Campina Grande.
).
|
5. Produce, update, and share timely, consistent, comparable, and policy-relevant water and water-related data and information, and use it to guide, assess, and improve water policy. |
Paraíba River Basin |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
Some information released by the AESA is outdated (especially about water permits and water users); the State Water Resources Plan has not been revised since 2006 (
Agência Executiva de Gestão das Águas do Estado da Paraíba, 2018b
Agência Executiva de Gestão das Águas do Estado da Paraíba – AESA. (2018b, 19 de outubro). Convênio para atualização do plano estadual de recursos hídricos da paraíba é prorrogado. Retrieved in 2020, February 2, from http://www.aesa.pb.gov.br/aesa-website/2018/10/19/convenio-para-atualizacao-do-plano-estadual-de-recursos-hidricos-da-paraiba-e-prorrogado/ http://www.aesa.pb.gov.br/aesa-website/2...
). Improvement is necessary, referring to information exchange and operational management supervision.
|
Reservoir |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
The ANA manages the National Information System on Water Resources, which is frequently updated, inclusive with data provided by the AESA. Despite this, it still lacks some essential data, like inspection and water quality.
|
6. Ensure that governance arrangements help mobilize water finance and allocate financial resources in an efficient, transparent, and timely manner. |
Paraíba River Basin |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
Bulk water charges were approved in 2008 (decree n° 33.612/2012) and have been implemented since 2015. However, the basin does not have its water resources plan yet (
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba, 2017
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba – CBH-PB. (2017, 22 de fevereiro). Ata da 1ª reunião extraordinária. Campina Grande.
), which hamper investment allocation.
|
Reservoir |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
The Federal government should provide financial resources for any intervention related to water management. Bulk water charges implemented in the basin, but not in the reservoir yet.
|
7. Ensure that sound water management regulatory frameworks are effectively implemented and enforced in pursuit of the public interest. |
Paraíba River Basin |
5 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
There are regulatory frameworks, but the lack of the AESA’s adequate infrastructure makes it challenging to implement it, and there is no river basin agency. The agency fails in controlling water users and water permits.
|
Reservoir |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
There is a lack of communication between state and federal agencies (
Conselho Estadual de Recursos Hídricos, 2014
Conselho Estadual de Recursos Hídricos – CERH. (2014, 27 de março). Ata da 33ª reunião ordinária. João Pessoa.
). The AESA, the CBH-PB, and the State Water Resources Council (CERH) don’t get involved in the reservoir management properly.
|
8. Promote the adoption and implementation of innovative water governance practices across responsible authorities, scales of government, and relevant stakeholders. |
Paraíba River Basin |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
The CBH-PB should be a forum for innovative practices discussions, but it is strongly dependent on the AESA (
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba, 2015
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba – CBH-PB. (2015, 20 de maio). Ata da 1ª reunião extraordinária. Campina Grande.
), both technically and financially.
|
Reservoir |
5 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
According to PNRH (
Brasil, 1997
Brasil. (1997, 9 de janeiro). Lei nº 9.433, de 8 de janeiro de 1997. Institui a Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos. Diário Oficial [da] República Federativa do Brasil, Brasília.
), the water agencies are responsible for finances water-related studies, the crises stimulated several studies and strategies as those of water loss reduction in the water supply system and the adoption of different water treatment techniques.
|
9. Mainstream integrity and transparency practices across water policies, water institutions, and water governance frameworks for greater accountability and trust in decision-making. |
Paraíba River Basin |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Federal and state jurisdictions within the basin do not help integrity and transparency practices, despite the clear rules established by water laws. Lack of transparency makes it difficult to analyze the basin’s water management.
|
Reservoir |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
The ANA centralizes decision-making over the reservoir’s problems. Lack of clear accountability and control mechanisms generates poor transparency practices and trust in the decision-making.
|
10. Promote stakeholder engagement for informed and outcome-oriented contributions to water policy design and implementation. |
Paraíba River Basin |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
The river basin committee presents sound functioning failures and is absent from the water management responsibilities, which hamper stakeholder engagement and contributions.
|
Reservoir |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
The meetings coordinated by the State Prosecutor’s Office, during the 2012-2017 supply crisis were essential to making decisions. Stakeholders only had a few discussions about the reservoir’s problems.
|
11. Encourage water governance frameworks that help manage trade-offs across water users, rural and urban areas, and generations. |
Paraíba River Basin |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
The conflicts over water use are poorly addressed, given the committee’s malfunctioning.
|
Reservoir |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Only during the crises, the conflict between cities supply and agriculture are discussed in the CBH-PB meetings. After the return of irrigation withdrawals, the farmers needed to use more efficient irrigation techniques.
|
12. Promote regular monitoring and evaluation of water policy and governance where appropriate, share the results with the public and make adjustments when needed. |
Paraíba River Basin |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
The CERH is responsible for monitoring and evaluating water policy. The monitoring of the water policy and other measures implementation are discussed in the CERH meetings, but improvements are required.
|
Reservoir |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
ANA and the CNRH are responsible for monitoring the PNRH and create complimentary water resources guidelines for water management instruments. However, there isn´t regular and independent monitoring and evaluation of the water policy as a whole (
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba, 2015
Comitê de Bacia do Rio Paraíba – CBH-PB. (2015, 20 de maio). Ata da 1ª reunião extraordinária. Campina Grande.
).
|