The work was developed from the analysis of the viability of creating a water agency in the Grande river basin, located in western Bahia, Brazil. The charging mechanisms of five different water agencies in Brazil were applied to the basin. The simulations showed the possibility of an average annual collection in the basin of over R$ 2.2 million, which would provide a median value above R$ 160,000 per year for administrative costs of the agency. Thus, considering that the median value of the annual administrative cost to state agencies is close to R$ 300,000, the collection provided by the mechanisms studied would not initially allow the creation of a water agency for the Grande river basin. However, the adoption of one of the existing water agencies would be a more appropriate alternative for the implementation during a shorter period of time, given the technical and operational structure within which the current agencies function.
This study analyzed the relative cost of charging for water use with respect to water users' production costs in the Grande River Basin, located in the Brazilian Cerrado, considering the principal charging methods existing in Brazil. The study was developed based on: the rights of use grant data surveys pertaining to water resources and the classification of bodies of water into usage classes; a simulation of charging for water use through various methods; and an analysis of the relative cost of charges on the production cost of the water users. The charging methods used by the following were studied: the Committee of the Basin of River Paraíba do Sul (CEIVAP), the Committee of Basins of Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí Rivers (PCJ), the São Francisco River Basin Committee (CBHSF) and the Doce River Basin Committee (CBH-DOCE). The study verified that irrigated agriculture is the sector that uses the most water, representing 46.4% of the outflow granted in the basin. Considering the different charging methods, the collection in the basin of the Grande River potentially allows for investments of US$ 1.2 million (PCJ), US$ 920,000 (CEIVAP), US$ 426,000 (CBH-DOCE), or US$ 297,000 (CBHSF) in this region, leading to average relative costs of 0.68% (irrigation), 0.28% (human) and 0.08% (industry). For this reason, there is the possibility of implanting charges for water use in the Grande River Basin, with either the CEIVAP's or PCJ's method appearing to be the most suitable, given that the parameters of these mechanisms are in line with existing activities in the basin.
Water catchment to subsidize agricultural activities is estimated at 70% of world consumption. In the western region of Bahia, the main agricultural center of the state, there is intensive use of water for the production of agricultural commodities. In regions with high water demand, quantification of the use of this resource can be performed using anthropic pressure indicators, such as the Water Footprint. Thus, this work determined the Water Footprint of the soybean, cotton, and corn crops produced in the western region of Bahia State. In order to determine the Water Footprint, data of the environmental characteristics and crop production in the region were used, were obtained from different Brazilian public and private institutions. The calculation of Water Footprint of the crops was performed by the sum of the green, blue, and gray components. The average Water Footprint between 2012 and 2017 for soybean corresponded to 1,972.3 m3 t-1, with cotton at 1,825.2 m3 t-1, and corn 512.4 m3 t-1. The analyses of the results and the comparison with the values of the Water Footprint of other regions demonstrate that the edaphoclimatic conditions of the western region of Bahia are propitious to the development of these crops.
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