Elemento de benção, região de maldição: uma análise da gestão de recursos hídricos no Estado do Pará

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to analyze the existing limitations for the management of water resources in the State of Pará, related to the implementation of management instruments and base entities for decentralization, as set forth in the Water Resources Policy of the State of Pará (Law No. 6,381 of 2001). For this purpose, it was necessary to investigate: a) the limitations existing in the historical trajectory of the process of water regulation in Brazil, which hinder the implantation of these legal devices; b) regional and local limitations; c) the limitations of the State Water Management Authority (SEMAS/PA); and d) the role of municipal public authority in the management of water resources on a local and inter-municipal scale. Field research was carried out in two stages: the first with environmental secretariats of the municipalities comprising Marapanim river basin and Itacaiúnas river basin, and the second with employees and former employees of SEMAS/PA. Based on common resource management theories, with emphasis on the Resource Curse Hypothesis and its deployment, it was found that the institutional system designed by the State for the management of water resources in the Amazon does not effectively comply with the principles of decentralization and participation from the Water Resources Policy, compromising the implementation and effectiveness of legal provisions by promoting a model of regional development that privileges the interests of specific economic groups, which reflects in state and local management.