Mecanismos de resolução de conflitos em bacias hidrográficas compartilhadas: o caso das bacias dos Rio Piranhas- Açu (Brasil) e tejo (Península Ibérica).

Abstract

Water resource conflicts have their roots not only related to water shortage but also to water resource management failures. Shared rivers is a complex factor in water management, either between countries or between political/administrative units in a single country. Agreements between them have helped solve, minimize or avoid conflicts. In Brazil, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte states share the Piranhas-Açu River Basin. In 2004, an agreement called Regulatory Framework was formalized, with the intervention of the National Water Agency (Agência Nacional de Águas - ANA) and the National Department of Works Against Drought (Departamento Nacional de Obras Contra as Secas). This defines the flow on the border between the two states. In the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal and Spain share five river basins, among them, the Tagus River Basin. Those countries signed an agreement in 1998 called Albufeira Convention which defined the minimum flow at the border between the two countries. In this context, this study analyzed and compared the conflicts over water usage in the two basins from 2000 to 2015 and the mechanisms used to fix, avoid or minimize these conflicts. A qualitative approach was adopted with the combination of observational and comparative methods. As tools to develop this research, interviews, minutes of meetings (sixteen from CBH-PPA, seventeen from CADC, three from CP and ten from GTO) and participation at the place of those meetings (three meetings in the plenary from CBH-PPA and three from CTPI) were used. The research interviewed thirty key players, eight in Brazil, seventeen in Portugal and five in Spain. The study considered that the water legal framework in the observed basins has some similarities. The assumptions were confirmed: the institutional framework and the social dynamics play a decisive role in the resolution of these conflicts; strong, independent and democratic institutions best promote water management; effective mechanisms for conflict resolution may avoid, minimize or solve conflicts between water users in shared basins; the lack of strong institutions and effective conflict resolution mechanisms weaken the water resource management system, forcing actions of indirect institutions, such as the Public Ministry. In conclusion, the importance of history in solving conflicts; institutional preparation and continuous operation; the use of flexible and adjusted rules; the development of single basin plans and greater public participation can be seen. Legal action permission prosecutors must be used when there is inefficiency of the management bodies of water.