Management of the Guarani aquifer recharge area: The case of Ribeirão Preto municipality, São Paulo

Author(s)

Pilar Carolina Villar

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Eletrotécnica e Energia (IEE/BT)
• Defense date: 2008-11-25

Examining board members

Wagner Costa Ribeiro; Christian Guy Caubet; Pedro Roberto Jacobi

• Advisor: Wagner Costa Ribeiro

Abstract

The contemporary society has created many kinds of risks, enlarging the meaning of this concept. It can be associated to natural disasters, but more and more it is related to human actions, especially because technology use. When soil is used to agricultural or urbane proposes, it creates condition for contamination of sensible areas, such as the Guarani Aquifers recharge area at Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil. This research aimed to analyze how the current subterranean water legislation works in order to protect Guarani Aquifers recharge area, considering risks identified by literature in Ribeirão Preto City. Data were collected by documental analysis and interviews that were conducted to key actors. Ribeirão Preto is considered one of the most important cities of São Paulo State. Its economy is highly developed and it is located in the recharge area of Guarani Aquifer. In addition, the city has been target by many projects of preservation, such as Guarani Aquifer Project. In order to create effective protection policy, the challenge consists of conciliating the hydric resources management with soil and environment policy. The National Water Policy has been leaded with this subject in a very superficial way. Even though São Paulo State has been pioneer in a normative way, it has not been able to create an efficient regulation. The possibility of establishing Maximum Protection Areas in the recharge zones is appreciable, but inconsistent laws create obstacles that interrupt a real application of this instrument. In the municipally level, the priority is the interest of powerful economy sectors instead of the recharge areas protection. The implementation and application of an efficient subterranean water policy is prejudiced by risks diversity, lack of a national policy that indicates directives to the state policy, and lack of integration and articulation among various involved sectors and actors. Recharge areas protection have been realized as an indirect way through environmental instruments. These instruments are not specific, but they reach the recharge areas as a natural consequence of the environmental protection. (AU)