International Network of Basin Organizations

LATIN AMERICA BRASIL	ACTION PROGRAMME FOR São Francisco RIVER BASIN MINISTERIAL VISIT TO the paraiba do sul project DNAEE newsletter presents INBO A RIVER BASIN AGENCY FOR PIRACICABA, CAPIVARI, AND JUNDIAI BRAZILIAN CONSORTIUM NETWORK THE NATIONAL SECRETARIAT FOR WATER RESOURCES
The network newsletter

LATIN AMERICA

BRASIL

ACTION PROGRAMME FOR São Francisco RIVER BASIN

A working group has been established to define a priority action programme for São Francisco River Basin which would integrate transport, water transfer between basins, investment in dams and reafforestation. This investment, of a social character, will provide a better standard of living for the population. A commission composed of representatives from the Ministries of Mines and Energy, Transport, Environment, Agriculture, Planning and Development, will be set up.

Brasil

BRASIL

MINISTERIAL VISIT TO the paraiba do sul project

The Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Mr. José Garrido, accompanied by DNAEE's Manager, Mr. José de Brito and by the General Coordinator for Water Resources, Mr. Vinicius Benevides, visited the Paraiba do Sul project which is implemented within a French-Brazilian cooperation programme.
The Executive Secretary considers this project to be positive from the Brazilian point of view and the French one as well. He believes that models developed in this manner are very useful as they take various aspects into account while following a modern approach.

Brasil

BRASIL

DNAEE newsletter presents INBO

The December issue of AQUALUZ, the newsletter of the National Service for Water and Electrical Energy of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, presented INBO's objectives, meetings and agreements. It also presented the "AQUADOC-INTER" project that will facilitate exchanges of institutional information between organizations of each country.

Vinicius Benevides
DNAEE
Fax : (55-61) 226 5735/224 4190

Brasil

BRASIL

A RIVER BASIN AGENCY FOR PIRACICABA, CAPIVARI, AND JUNDIAI

The first River Basin Agency shall be created in the State of São Paulo for the basins Piracicaba-Capivari and Jundiai. This is a joint effort that has regrouped in the River Basin Committee, the Consortium of cities of the Piracicaba - Capivari region, users, local institutions, and the State government. São Paulo State already has a law that plans the establishment of an Agency as well as charges for the use of river water. The creation of River Basin Agencies throughout the whole State of São Paulo is planned. This new law adapted the French Agency system to Brazilian reality, keeping some of its basically decentralized characteristics:

- the River Basin Agency: charges for the use of river water, and is responsible for financial management and has its own budget,
- the River Basin Committee: approves the resource investment plan, which is administered by the River Basin Agency.

The Consortium of the Piracicaba and Capivari basins regroups 32 cities located in the region. The Consortium has been active since 1989, implementing projects for river rehabilitation and protection and establishing a management system. C.U.D. and the Seine Normandy Water Agency have assisted this consortium since 1992, by means of an Agreement of Decentralized Cooperation with French municipalities.

Brasil

BRASIL

BRAZILIAN CONSORTIUM NETWORK

In Vitória, capital of the State of Espirito Santo, during the Second National Meeting of River Basin Consortia and inter-city associations, 13 Brazilian consortia joined to form a national network. The objectives of this network are to represent its members, prepare agreements between them, support the creation and operation of new consortia, organize meetings and seminars, and support the implementation of water charges and of decentralized management systems.
The network's statute will be proposed by an Organization Committee, and the office of the Piracicaba - Capivari Consortium in São Paulo will be its temporary head-office. Two events will take place in 1996: a delegation will travel to France to get to know the management systems (April), and an international seminar will take place in São Bernardo do Campo, city in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (June).

João Moysés Abujadi
Consortium Piracicaba-Capiravi
Fax : (55-11) 604 19 21

Brasil

BRASIL

THE NATIONAL SECRETARIAT FOR WATER RESOURCES

The National Secretariat for Water Resources (SWR), supervised by the Ministry for the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazonia, has been created to manage water resources at federal level. It was born due to the importance of this resource potential, the adequate and efficient exploitation of which may allow its rational use for the well-being of the community, and diminish damage caused by bad use.
Water resources managment at federal level has adopted the modern approach of flexibility which is not compatible with administrative concentration and centralization. The creation of SWR thus enables to regroup competences that were "spread" over various organizations.
SWR deals with water resources management on a national scale and, in spite of its youth, receives numerous demands and examines the most varied problems. SWR role is above all to allow for solutions to be applied, but it cannot act without the cooperation of committees, federal units, public and private organizations in the States, and finally without the community itself. Water cannot be soundly managed without everyone's cooperation, without the necessary legal structures and tools, without the public being aware of the seriousness of the problem.

Paulo Alfonso Romano
Ministry for the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazonia
Fax : (55-61) 225 6359

Brasil