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Integrated water management for the Epitácio Pessoa Reservoir in the semi-arid region of Brazil

ALAIN MARIE BERNARD PASSERAT DE SILANS, WAMBERTO RAIMUNDO DA SILVA JUNIOR, CARMEM LÚCIA MOREIRA GADELHA, HAMILCAR JOSÉ ALMEIDA FILGUEIRA & MARTIM ASSUEROS GOMES

Laboratório de Recursos Hídricos e Engenharia Ambiental, Centro de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58059-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil

alainsilans@yahoo.com.br

Abstract The Epitácio Pessoa Reservoir (538 hm³), in the semi-arid region of Brazil, is used for urban water supply, irrigation and fishing activities. In 1998 and 1999, due to a severe drought, irrigation and fishing activities were prohibited and urban supply was strongly restricted, resulting in dramatic social and economic consequences. A methodology has been developed to propose directives and regulations to improve the water management combining a strategic environmental evaluation with an improvement of socioeconomic development of the rural surrounding area. The methodology is based on three main points: (i) socioeconomic diagnosis; (ii) environmental diagnosis; and (iii) Causal Chain Analysis. The latter is initiated by the building of “Causal Matrices”. The main problems are detected and classified with a priority concept. A trend attribute is also given by these problems. Then the causes of each main problem are analysed and clustered into technical, managerial, political and social, and cultural and economic types. A chain between one cultural and economic cause and one or more technical causes, through both other cause types, is drawn on the matrix, so it is easy to propose directives and actions to promote water management looking at integrated socioeconomic sustainable development.

Key words causal matrices; chain analysis; Epitácio Pessoa Reservoir