226 / 336
[
] 226
W
ater
C
ooperation
, S
ustainability
and
P
overty
E
radication
management model, board-like structures with tripartite compo-
sition – public authorities, water users and civil society – were
structured not only as a platform for public debate but, above all, as
permanent water forums endowed with deliberative powers to steer
the implementation of planning and economic instruments.
Over the past 25 years, almost 200 river basin committees have been
established throughout the country covering an area of more than 2.1
million km
2
, almost a quarter of Brazil’s territory. During that same
period, water councils with a composition similar to that of river basin
committees have been established in all states and at the federal level.
These forums function as ‘water parliaments’ and today they consti-
tute the main political arena for integrating water-related policy sectors.
An estimated 9,800 people are currently involved with the political
activities carried out in water councils and river basin committees, of
whom more than 3,000 are representatives of organizations in civil
society including non-government organizations, professional associa-
tions and centres of higher education and research.
Despite the operational difficulties of running a decentralized
system in such a vast territory, including high transaction costs
and acute asymmetries of knowledge and organization among
stakeholders, the benefits of transition from centralized, state-led
policymaking to the current model are undeniable. For the first
time non-state actors, particularly small community organizations,
have had an opportunity to influence high-level political processes.
They can have their say in matters of public and private investments
in water infrastructure, the definition of environmental standards
for protection of surface and groundwater, and allocation of water
resources among different sectors of the economy.
Besides providing institutional channels for citizen participation
in the decision-making process, these water councils and river basin
committees also created an enabling environment for collaborative
water governance. New forms of intersectoral and inter-institutional
partnerships have been developed around distinct forms of water
cooperation: public-public, private-private and public-private.
One example is the River Basin Clean-Up Program (PRODES)
that offers output-based aid (OBA) for sanitation services, binding
public funding of sanitary infrastructure with decisions on water
pollution control made collectively by members of these water
forums. Another example is the Water Producer Program which
offers technical and financial support for payment for environmental
services (PES) initiatives, many of them carried out at the watershed
level. The existence of an operative river basin committee is a key
factor for success in PES schemes, as they contribute to bringing
potential buyers and sellers together and facilitate the crafting of
multi-stakeholder agreements. Once the institutional arrangements
are in place, it is possible to overcome often-observed conflicts that
usually stem from the use of coercive instruments under command-
and-control strategies.
Integrated water management
Both the division of inland waters between federal and state
jurisdictions and the establishment of a national system of water
management as set out in the Federal Constitution of 1988 have
posed a great challenge for water governance in Brazil. The challenge
is intensified when one considers that, according to the National
Water Act of 1997, watersheds are the basic territorial units for
implementing water policies.
It demands Herculean efforts to establish permanent and effective
means for integrated water resources management (IWRM) nation-
PRODES
Objective:
Improve water quality in urban areas by
reducing water pollution from discharge of untreated
sewage and incentivizing implementation of water
policy instruments
Strategy:
OBA
Water sectors/users involved:
Sanitation services
(wastewater treatment)
PRODES offers OBA-type subsidies to reimburse up to
100 per cent of capital costs for the construction of new
wastewater treatment plants or improvement of existing
facilities. Once OBA contracts are signed, the funds
are transferred from the National Treasury to specific
escrow accounts. Service providers have then two years
to finish construction and start operation. From this
moment, a three-year certification process is initiated,
with evaluation of operational performance every three
months. Disbursement of federal grants is conditional
on the achievement of performance goals in wastewater
treatment facilities, with incumbent operators bearing all
the risk of non-performance.
From its launch in 2001, PRODES aimed at integrating
sanitation and water management policies, for which
a set of measures were adopted. For example, river
basin committees were tasked with approving proposals
for investment and operational performance goals
presented by sanitation services operating in their
areas. Proposals were selected on the basis of a more
holistic view over water quality problems, considering
their adequacy with the overall strategy set by river basin
committees. Criteria for selecting proposals were linked
to water policy goals, favouring those located in regions
that had advanced further in the implementation of
water policy instruments.
Key results
From 2001 to 2012, PRODES provided approximately
US$129 million to sanitation services that fulfilled
their contractual obligations in terms of water pollution
control in Brazil. In all, 58 projects were supported in
areas with critical conditions of water quality. These
facilities have a total operational capacity to remove
106,000 tons of organic pollutant load per day, serving
a population of approximately 5.3 million.
Image: Zig Koch courtesy of the National Water Agency
São Francisco River near the Paulo Afonso Hydropower Plant