Monitoring and assessment platform for the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí Rivers Watersheds Plan in the State of São Paulo

• Grant number: 23/10106-2
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research in Public Policies
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Resources
• Principal Investigator: Tadeu Fabricio Malheiros
• Grantee: Tadeu Fabricio Malheiros
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Ariane Baffa Lourenço ; Bruna Angela Branchi ; Cibele Roberta Sugahara ; Denise Helena Lombardo Ferreira ; Diogo Bernardo Pedrozo ; Duarcides Ferreira Mariosa ; Eduardo Mario Mendiondo ; Ester Feche Guimarães ; Francis de los Reyes III ; Maria Paula Pires de Oliveira ; Orandi Mina Falsarella ; Rebecca Moreira Dziedzic ; Sabrina de Oliveira Anício ; Vinicius Perez Dictoro

Abstract

This proposal aims to contribute to the monitoring practices of the Plan for the Basins of the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí Rivers (PCJ), an ongoing policy. The characteristics of the scientific contribution are rapid science, monitoring and evaluation of the impact of public policy, organization of the management database and technical training. The target group of the public policy is the population of the São Paulo portion of the PCJ Basins, which corresponds to approximately 5 million inhabitants in an area of 14,216 km2. For the implementation of the PCJ Basins Plan, some activities require detailing and definition of methodology, such as specification of information on execution and results of actions carried out, definition of indicators and structuring of the Plan's monitoring platform. Management challenges are the need for methodological procedures and data collection and analysis. Thus, the objective of the project is to improve the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the Plan's implementation and to promote innovation based on scientific knowledge and methodologies. The project will help to meet the Plan's targets, with a focus, at this time, on reducing water demand. The specific objectives are: to detail information required for evaluating the performance of the execution and the results of the implementation of the Plan; identify actions to control water losses in the supply system and their impacts; map environmental education actions to reduce water consumption and understand behavioral changes; improve the unified model of information for monitoring the Basin Plan; structure the benchmarking process. The expected results are: list of methodological procedures for specifying the information required for evaluating the performance and results of the Plan; state of the art on monitoring platforms, loss reduction practices and environmental education processes; definition of indicators; methodological procedures for developing and testing a pilot project for monitoring the Basin Plan and benchmarking platform; analysis of field visit results, application of indicators and pilot project. The pilot project refers to a public platform for disseminating data and communicating with actors from the PCJ Basins and will include modules that strengthen dialogue for the insertion of good practices and training courses. The results will be made available to managers through: presentations and technical documents; meetings, workshops, workshops and technical training; production of pedagogical modules for training in the use of the platform. In the scientific field, three scientific articles will be produced - involving the state of the art, the platform development process and the application of the pilot project - and presentation of at least two scientific works in congresses. The Associated Institution (PUC-Campinas) will participate in the entire scientific project. The work with the Partner Institution (PCJ Basins Agency) and Collaborators (PCJ Basins Committee, PCJ Consortium and DAE S/A of Jundiaí-SP) involves surveying the priorities of the Basin Plan related to water demand; interviews and meetings for mobilization and data collection; workshops for discussion and launch of the monitoring platform and its indicators for benchmarking; workshop on indicators; validation, application and analysis of the results of the indicators; evaluation of the adoption of the platform in an expanded form in the PCJ Basins; technical capacitation. Among the expected results are innovation in the dissemination and monitoring of the Basin Plans, improvement in the implementation and revision of the Plan and qualification of managers. The risks involved are low participation in activities, conflicts of interest, definition of indicators that do not meet the needs of public management, disapproval regarding the appropriation of results, insufficient technical training and budget limitations. (AU)