Regras e práticas de alocação de água nas Bacias dos rios Paraíba do Sul e Guandu a partir de uma abordagem proativa

Abstract

In a context of climate changes, intensification of drought extremes and adverse water balance, the water resources management has moved from crisis management to risk management. It demands a proactive approach instead of a reactive logic. In this sense, the present research proposes a proactive water allocation, defined as the practice of water resources management that oversees the sharing water between multiple uses, according to its availability, ensuring socioeconomic development, environmental sustainability and equity. To achieve these objectives, ensuring the proactive nature, five guiding principles have been defined. The main objective of this research is to analyze the rules and practices of water allocation between the multiple uses of the Paraíba do Sul and Guandu river basins, examining the extent to which these are close to a "proactive water allocation", especially in times of acute water shortages. For such, an analytical framework has been developed, based on international and national literature. The Paraíba do Sul river basin has great economic and social importance in the national context due to its location between three states in the Southeast of the country: São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. The basin is facing the intensification of drought events in the recent years. In 2014/2015 a severe water crises challenged the institutions involved in the water management and showed insufficient or misplaced water allocation practices. The allocation of water is given by the operating rules of the reservoirs of the system and by granting the right to use water. Both are largely regulated by legal frameworks and demand more effective institutional arrangements. The application of the analytical framework of proactive water allocation to the Paraíba do Sul basin has shown that water crises have brought relevant learning to a better preparation of the water allocation system, and that the directions taken to ensure a water security system are being observed. Finally, it demands flexibility to deal with more frequent climate extreme events.