National policy intruments for water resources in the Northern Brazil

Abstract

The Amazon region possesses a wide variety of potential economic uses associated with its natural resources. Water resources by themselves represent a large part of the wealth of the region, not only in economic terms but also in social and environmental terms. The present study discusses the implementation of the National Policy for Water Resources (PNRH) with regard to the implementation of its instruments (the Plan for Water Resources, the classification of the water bodies into use classes, the granting of use rights, the collection of fees for the use of water resources, and an information system for water resources). For these purposes, bibliographical surveys were carried out, the websites of the state and federal governments were consulted, and general searches were conducted on the management of water resources in the states in the northern region of Brazil. As results, we observe that the first steps have been taken with the drafting of state laws related to the PNRH. However, even after14 years have elapsed; the PNRH still does not fulfill its role in managing the water resources of the region. Three of the states in the region are only in the process of developing management plans for hydrographic basins, the great majority of water courses have not yet been classified with respect to their predominant use, the granting of water rights follows a purely bureaucratic process, the information system on the water resources is inefficient, and the collection of fees for the use of the water is far from being viable.