Gestão multiescala para sistemas urbanos sustentáveis de abastecimento de água.

Abstract

The Urban Water Supply Systems (UWSS) are analyzed in this work to propose strategies for their management and sustainability through a management plan based on multiple urban scales. The study domain is Campina Grande, in the state of Paraiba, a relevant medium-sized commercial and services hub, located in the semiarid region of Brazil. Sustainability and resilience concepts related to Water Sensitive Cities are discussed considering several strategies, such as the use of multivariate sources, using multiscale; and integrated urban water systems supported by unconventional multi-purpose infrastructure. These strategies seek to support and supplement the conventional UWSS, especially in cities experiencing recurrent water crises. The methodological paths that lead to a Sustainable Urban Water Supply System (UWSS -Sustainable) are compromised by a cycle of a dynamic evolutionary nature and permeate multiple scales. Essential rule-oriented multi-scale approaches to assess management management in pursuit of a sustainable water service are analyzed. The model reveals the workflows that must be followed using three urban geographic scales: global (urban frontier), sectorial and local, based on three essential rules: spatial rules, biophysical rules and governance rules. The main result is a sustainable management model through a framework composed of 17 (seventeen) centralized and decentralized management strategies. The strategy framework is explored through three methodological contributions as actions for the proposed management model. First, a shortage of water risk mapping to support the centralized system used Geographic Information Systems based on Multicriteria Decision Analysis (GIS-MCDA) and Analytical Hierarchy Processes (AHP). The result is a spatial fit support tool suitable for UWSS planning, maintenance and operation. Second, the sectorization in supply clusters employed spatial analysis and technical engineering decisions to generate a support tool for centralized system management, especially loss management. The clustering obtained from the supply network should include a multi-criteria analysis x for the final definition of technical feasibility, including hydraulic optimization and costs involved. Finally, the study on public perception and disposal conducted a social media analysis of the factors influencing public responses to the hypothesis of water reuse as a contribution to the decentralized system. The results revealed that reused water is an alternative source of water that is positively recognized by the public, mainly due to water savings and water restriction. The study highlighted the need to initiate a debate to develop policies to promote water reuse, especially regulatory mechanisms and policies targeted at the degree of water scarcity. The findings reveal that the approach that applies integrated multiscale urban water systems management to spatial, biophysical and governance is a socio-technical design model that drives a new paradigm for the UWSS. The end result can be classified as a “plan for the UWSS sustainable future”.