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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATIONImage: Rossini Sena courtesy of the National Water AgencyTree planting campaign involving school childrenwide. On one hand, the envisioned system of water governance inBrazil must be capable of avoiding gaps or overlaps in the regulationof water uses across federal and state water jurisdictions. Onthe other, it must reach out to local actors and municipal governmentsthat, despite not being in charge of regulating water users, aredirectly responsible for strategic water-related policies such as watersupply, sanitation and urban planning.Coordination among local actors is facilitated by collaborativewater governance strategies applied at the regional level by deliberativewater forums. Nevertheless, there is still a vacuum of politicalagreements between the federal government and the states, thelatter exercising an overwhelming control over water resourcesin Brazil. Progress in this direction has been hampered by manyfactors – for instance, party politics have narrowed the opportunitiesfor long-standing alliances throughout election cycles. But bylooking ahead we can see new possibilities for water cooperationin Brazil’s federal system.First, it is necessary to recognize that state water systems arethe main gears of Brazil’s water governance engine. Apart fromthe streams of water shared by two or more states and reservoirsbuilt by the federal government, all inland waters, including allgroundwater reserves, fall under state jurisdiction.Strengthening water governance at the state level is,therefore, the starting point for any future progresstoward IWRM in Brazil. Only then will it be possibleto integrate the actions undergone by the states in acoherent way, according to a long-term view and undera broad national strategy.This is the rationale behind the most recent politicalagreement between federal and state water authorities.The National Pact for Water Resources Managementrepresents an outstanding political achievement,revealing that state water managers are keen to makecommitments under a national agreement as long asthey retain autonomy to implement their water policiesand have an opportunity to improve their own systems.Most important, however, is the strategy outlined forthe National Pact’s implementation. State governmentswill be invited to sign up to it on a voluntary basis. Theywill issue state decrees to formalize their commitmentsto cooperate with federal and other state water authorities.Then, another process will be initiated at the state[ 227 ]