Governance failures and knowledge asymmetries in the state river basin committees and their impacts on water resource management in Brazil

ABSTRACT

This study reports the results of a nationwide survey of how representatives of the state river basin committees in Brazil perceive their involvement in the decision-making process. The survey revealed failures in governance caused by a lack of understanding of the water management system, limited technical knowledge and a deficit of accountability by committee members. These flaws weaken the exchange of ideas and the fair balance of members’ participation, whilst reflecting particularistic interests of certain groups or individuals in decision-making. Unless these problems are addressed, the OECD Principles on Water Governance cannot be implemented in Brazil’s river basins.

KEYWORDS:

• Public policies
• participation
• deliberation
• water resources
• governance
• Brazil

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was conducted with the support of the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamentode Pessoal de Nível Superior (Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education – CAPES), within the scope of the Water Resources Program [call number 16/2017, financing code number 001].