Water resources management and basic sanitation: reflections on social participation

Abstract

Considering social participation in water management in Brazil as its subject and analyzing the Brazilian national policy (Law no. 9,433/1997) and the related scientific literature, this article intends to contribute to the improvement of governance practices of this natural resource in the country. This proposition is relevant in itself, considering the emphasis in the scientific literature on participatory water management, especially in a context of scarcity, such as the one persisting in some Brazilian regions. In addition, the intended contributions may also be useful for basic sanitation, still new to the exercise of these practices and with which water resources are intimately associated. The analysis revealed the importance of existing legal provisions, which determine participation as a guiding principle of the practices. It also indicated factors which redounds in an asymmetrical, limited, excluding, or even non-existing participation. In conclusion, the broad training of social agents is an action necessary to overcome such factors in favor of social control effectiveness.