River basin committees and integrated management in the Brazilian National Water Resources Policy

Abstract

Brazilian National Water Resources Policy establishes the integration and decentralization of water management so that public power, civil society and users of each basin can participate in the decisions.  To this end, such policy instituted the River Basin Committees in order to approach local communities of the decision-making process. Nevertheless, empirical studies have shown that this new model of management is compromised by political and economic interests and by management vulnerabilities. This paper aims (i) to identify and analyze what factors compromise the participation of the members of the committees, using the river basin committee of the Rio Preto Tributary located in Distrito Federal as a study case and (ii) to critically approach the integrated management of water resources. The methodological procedures involved a bibliographic research, with a pertinent literature review on the decentralization, participation, management, and integration of water resources. Additionally, a documentary analysis of the minutes of the committee and semi-structured interviews with members of the committee were performed. The data revealed aspects that compromise both the participation and representativeness of the committees, and the functioning of these institutions. Moreover, difficulties of implementing the integrated management of water resources were highlighted. Results indicate three necessary conditions to achieve sustainability in water management, namely: a technological and scientific discussion in a multidisciplinary approach, equity of power, and collaboration among the different actors involved in the decision-making process.