Producing water scarcity in São Paulo, Brazil: The 2014-2015 water crisis and the binding politics of infrastructure

Millington, Nate

doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2018.04.007

Cited by 93 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…Such an engagement contributes to unraveling how local actors, with "their practices, rationales, normative orientations, interests and imaginaries as well as their relative and contextual power" [37] (p. 2), shape decision-making regarding the distribution of water and how they might "advance or inhibit equity in service provision or to advance it for some and not for others" [47] (p.4). This approach also helps to expose how material objects, i.e., pipes and trucks, play a role in shaping the governance of urban water distribution by constraining or enabling certain practices [48,49]. We define practices as mundane actions, daily activities that contribute to and/or contest existing procedures and rules.…”

Section: Research Approach: Understanding Governance Through Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Brokers: Exploring Urban Water Governance through the Practices of Tanker Water Supply in Accra

Alba

Bruns

Bartels

et al. 2019

Water

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Accra, the capital city of Ghana, is characterized by limited networked supply, heterogeneous water providers, and various forms of provision. In this paper, we explore how the people delivering water through water tankers shape the distribution of water across the city. Drawing on empirical descriptions of water sourcing and distribution by truck drivers, we show that who gets what water at what price is shaped by the ability of tanker drivers to act as brokers, piecing together various social and material arrangements and resorting to different rationalities and expertise. We analyze how state actors deal with tanker supply seeking to reconcile their mandates with the realities of water supply. Analyzing urban water supply through the practices of water distribution, we show the messy and open-ended character of water governance processes. A practice-based approach makes the complex interrelations between different water providers across the city visible, and underscores the role of individual and collective identities, emotions, moral norms, and unequal interdependencies between actors in shaping urban water distributions.

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Section: Research Approach: Understanding Governance Through Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Brokers: Exploring Urban Water Governance through the Practices of Tanker Water Supply in Accra

Alba

Bruns

Bartels

et al. 2019

Water

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“…In particular, they promote economic demand management mechanisms that proved successful in arid regions, like the water pricing incentives set during the 2013-2015 water crisis yet abandoned once the critical period was over, or water rights trade and adaptation for less thirsty and higher added value crops implemented in Brazil's northeastern state Ceara. Other authors also encourage moving towards local solutions and rainwater harvest [30,72,73] or catchment protection options [74][75][76]. All agree that, in a changing environment, there is a need for water authorities and its population to raise awareness about limited freshwater resources.…”

Section: Coping With the Risk Of Water Crisismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, studies have called on the importance of socio-political drivers in the water crisis. Supplying water in sufficient quantity and quality has become a political issue in many localities of SPMR [29] that aggravated during the crisis [8,10,30]. During the water crisis, the water and sanitation management company of São Paulo State (SABESP-Saneamento Básico do Estado de Sao Paulo) set two main measures (Jerson Kelman, director of SABESP, personal communication, 8 August 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second measure involved decreasing pressure in the pipes to reduce leakages, estimated at 28% (Head of the Integrated Planning Department, personal communication, 8 August 2016). This measure reduced the ability of water to arrive uphill and dried taps in the periphery of the city [27,30]. Unfortunately, the poorest districts are in the outskirt of the city, water connections are precarious and houses are not always equipped with water towers, although they are legally mandatory in Brazil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, the poorest districts are in the outskirt of the city, water connections are precarious and houses are not always equipped with water towers, although they are legally mandatory in Brazil. Hence, Millington (2018) argues that the water crisis was "produced by the combination of existing inequities in city's water infrastructure and the differentiated abilities of residents to store water" [30]. Soriano et al (2016) also claim the lack of information from the authorities about the water crisis and on the state of the Cantareira system until it reached a critical level, i.e., when water had to be tapped from the dead volume for the second time [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water Supply Basins of São Paulo Metropolitan Region: Hydro-Climatic Characteristics of the 2013–2015 Water Crisis

Milano

Reynard

Miranda

et al. 2018

Water

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São Paulo metropolitan region experienced an acute water crisis between 2013 and 2015. According to the Brazilian and international press, it was due to climatic, anthropogenic, and water management factors. This paper assesses the hydro-climatic characteristics of the crisis by focusing on the Alto-Tietê basin and the headwater of the Piracicaba-Capivari-Jundiaí (PCJ) basin that supply 70% of the water consumed in the metropolis. Based on 16 rain-gauge stations, 5 runoff-gauge stations, and several statistical analyses carried over the 1951-2015 period, this assessment shows that the 2013-2015 hydro-climatic crisis resulted from a large number of days without rain in the north of the Alto-Tietê basin and to less intense precipitation events in the headwaters of the PCJ basin during the austral spring 2013 and the year 2014. It also defines a return period of 98 years for observed river flows in 2014. Despite the rare nature of this hydrological drought, the need for efficient water saving policies is brought forward.

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Development of a multicriteria model for crises in urban water supply and its application to the case of Brasilia, Brazil

Silva

Souza

2022

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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The expansion of urban water supply crisis (UWC) cases, a context characterized by an inadequate ratio between water consumption and supply capacity, has motivated researchers to search for tools to solve the problem. The objective of this study is to develop a multicriteria tool to help select the solution alternative for UWC cases. The tool (called UWC-MCDA) is based on obtaining consensus on various multicriteria methods for selecting alternatives to solve UWC cases. The proposed methodology consists of the following steps: (1) defining the criteria, (2) defining weights, (3) defining the alternative, (4) defining multicriterial decision support methods, (5) coding the UWC solution alternative selection model, ( 6) evaluation of the model coding, ( 7) application of the model coding, and (8) sensitivity analysis. The methods PROMETHEE II, TOPSIS, ELECTRE III, and Consensus ranking are used. The case study considered was the Administrative Region of Brasilia, in the Federal District of Brazil. A multicriteria tool to help select the solution alternative for UWC cases was developed in an easyto-use environment (Visual Basic for Applications, MS Excel). The UWC-MCDA is able to identify and prioritize, among a set of possible alternatives, the most appropriate solution for the case in question. For the case study, the UWC-MCDA indicated the best alternatives for regulating water consumption, strengthening sanitation service operators and good water conservation practices.

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Producing water scarcity in São Paulo, Brazil: The 2014-2015 water crisis and the binding politics of infrastructure

Cited by 93 publications

References 46 publications

Water Brokers: Exploring Urban Water Governance through the Practices of Tanker Water Supply in Accra

Water Brokers: Exploring Urban Water Governance through the Practices of Tanker Water Supply in Accra

Water Supply Basins of São Paulo Metropolitan Region: Hydro-Climatic Characteristics of the 2013–2015 Water Crisis

Development of a multicriteria model for crises in urban water supply and its application to the case of Brasilia, Brazil

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