Gestão participativa dos recursos hídricos: percepção da Associação União das Mulheres Betanhenses sobre o Sistema de abastecimento de água de Nova Betânia, Farias Brito-CE.

Abstract

The management of the Water Supply System (WSS) shared between Community Associations and SISAR (Integrated Rural Sanitation System) is an alternative that seeks to enable access to treated water in more vulnerable communities. The guiding question of this research was to know if the participatory management of the Water Supply System shared between SISAR and the Association of Women of Betanhenses (UMB) is effective. To this end, the objective of this study was to analyze the perception of the UMB Association on participatory management of water resources shared with the sanitation service provider (SISAR). The methodology used was qualitative. Field visits were carried out in the Nova Betânia community, with participation in meetings directed by the board of directors of the local association and construction of a Timeline and Venn Diagram, in addition to the bibliographic review and documentary analysis on the participatory management of water resources and the community. Weaknesses were perceived in the participatory management shared between SISAR and the Association, on the one hand the responsibility of management ends up being transferred mostly to the agency, on the other hand, the low capacity of the technical staff to develop a continuous work based on social and environmental aspects is affected by the range of communities that are assisted. Thus, it is possible to perceive the lack of fulfillment of the functions applicable to the parties, which occurred due to the lack of information/interest of the users and/or continuous social monitoring with a focus on environmental awareness, management and governance of water resources. Although the associates know that shared management consists of the division of competencies for both stakeholders (Sisar and Community), they do not recognize themselves as responsible for management, as they only identify the institution as such. The social participation of the community must be improved, on the one hand, it must seek to insert new associates who work in favor of the struggle in order to face the challenges present in the community; on the other hand, environmental education and the participation of beneficiaries in the management of the Nova Betânia SAA should be instigated.