| The São Paulo Metropolitan Region
(RMSP), the largest urban area in Brazil, with approximately
18 million residents, currently displays one of the
most serious situations in the country in terms of guaranteeing
the quantity and quality of water supplies for the population.
The causes lie in the long history of poor management
of water resources, the lack of urban planning in the
settling of areas in the nearest sources of water, such
as the Billings and Guarapiranga watershed basins, and
the deterioration of conditions in more distant areas,
such as the Cantareira system of dams.
The objective of the Water Source Program of the Socio-Environmental
Institute (ISA) is to develop the participatory monitoring
of socio-environmental conditions of these water resources.
This process encompasses the production and constant
updating of participatory socio-environmental diagnostic
studies, holding seminars for proposing means to recuperate
and conserve water supplies, accompanying and proposing
public policies, promoting public awareness campaigns,
and mobilizing social action.
History
ISA’s involvement with water resources began in 1996,
when it conducted the Participatory Socio-Environmental
Diagnostic Study of the Guarapiranga Watershed Basin.
This study is currently being updated, the results of
which will be published in 2004. ISA’s work in the Billings
region, which was initiated in 1999, has been published
in two books: Billings 2000: Threats and perspectives
on the largest water reserve in the São Paulo Metropolitan
Region, and Billings Seminar 2002: Evaluation
and identification of priority areas and actions for
the conservation, recuperation, and sustainable use
of the Billings Watershed Basin.
In 2002, ISA launched the public awareness campaign,
“Waters of Life for São Paulo,” with the aim of alerting
the São Paulo population to the crucial role played
by the regional water sources as a means of survival.
The experience ISA gained in developing intensive analyses
made it an authority on the topic of water sources.
That same year, ISA was elected to be the representative
of environmental nongovernmental organizations in the
Council on the Capivari-Monos Environmental Protection
Area, a region that covers part of the Billings and
Guarapiranga basins. In 2003, ISA was elected representative
of environmental organizations in the Committee on the
Upper Tietê Watershed Basin. Throughout the year, the
Water Source Program participated in elaborating the
Regional Master Plans for Capela do Socorro and Parelheiros,
areas located in the far south of the São Paulo municipal
district, between the Guarapiranga and Billings dams,
in partnership with the local government offices.
Guarapiranga
The Guarapiranga Watershed Basin is responsible for
supplying water for the southwestern part of the São
Paulo municipal district, which contains more than three
million people. The basin is threatened by the disorderly
settlement of the area and the pollution of its waters.
The results of the Participatory Socio-Environmental
Diagnostic Study of the Guarapiranga Watershed Basin,
conducted by ISA in 1996, revealed a troubling situation.
From 1989 to 1996, Guarapiranga lost 15% of its vegetation
cover and suffered an urban growth rate of 50%.
Billings
Although Billings is the largest dam in the RMSP and
more than half of its watershed basin is preserved,
it cannot be fully utilized as a public water supply
due to the enormous accumulation of pollutants, resulting
from water pumping in the Rio Tietê over the past sixty
years.
In order to propose alternatives that would reverse
the degraded condition of this important water source,
ISA, in conjunction with various governmental and nongovernmental
organizations, held the Billings Seminar 2000 to propose
areas and actions for the conservation, recuperation,
and sustainable use of the Billings Watershed Basin.
Publications
-
Billings 2000: Threats and perspectives on
the largest water reserve in the São Paulo Metropolitan
Region. This book presents the main results
of the Participatory Socio-Environmental Diagnostic
Study of the Guarapiranga Watershed Basin, initiated
in 1999.
-
Billings Seminar 2002: Evaluation and identification
of priority areas and actions for the conservation,
recuperation, and sustainable use of the Billings
Watershed Basin. This seminar brought together
193 specialists on the issue, relied on important
partnerships, and resulted in a set of actions and
recommendations for the maintenance of this essential
water source.
Partnerships supporting
the Billings Seminar 2002
São Paulo Secretariat of the State and Environment
Billings Watershed Basin Subcommittee
Municipal Offices of Ribeirão Pires
Municipal Secretariats of Housing and Environment in
São Paulo
Acqua Institute
Associação Global de Desenvolvimento Sustentado (AGDS)
National Bureau for Commercial Apprenticeship (SENAC)
Cantareira
In 2003, ISA began to work on the watershed basins
of the Cantareira System, considered the largest system
of public water supplies in Latin America, which produces
water for 50% of the population of the RMSP.
Public policy accompaniment and proposals
The Regional Master Plans of the local districts of Capela do Socorro and
Parelheiros in the São Paulo municipal district were
elaborated by the local district government offices
with assistance from ISA in organizing and systematizing
relevant data. This collaboration was made possible
through a partnership agreement signed by the parties
and approved by the São Paulo Municipal Council on the
Environment and Sustainable Development (CADES). These
Master Plans, which will be approved by law, are regulatory
instruments of public policies, defining mid-range and
long-range actions to be pursued in the region. The
two plans were developed in a participatory manner by
means of workshops and plenary meetings in the region,
and also involved the production of maps and a databank
with all the proposals presented by the population.
This material was incorporated into a legislative bill
that is currently being analyzed in the Council of Alderpersons
in São Paulo.
Upper Tietê River Basin Committee and Subcommittees
ISA is the foremost representative of civil society organizations in defense
of the environment. It also participates in meetings
of the Technical Planning and Management Council of
the Upper Tietê River Basin Committee.
In the Billings Subcommittee, ISA is the head of the
Technical Planning Council and accompanies the progress
of the Specific Law and Plan for the Development and
Environmental Protection of Billings.
Team
Coordinator: Marussia Whately (architect)
Advisor: Pilar Machado da Cunha (geographer)
Volunteer: Felipe De Lucia Lobo (biology student)
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