This publication was printed with support of the UNESCO This publication is part of the activities of NAEA, Research Group “Environment, Population and Development of the Amazon - MAPAZ”. This Research Group develops projects with support of CNPq and NAEA/UFPA. © UNESCO 2004 © NAEA/UFPA 2004 The authors of signed articles are responsible for the presentation of facts and for the opinions expressed therein, which do not necessarily reflect those of UNESCO or NAEA/UFPA. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatever on the part of UNESCO or NAEA/UFPA concernig the legal satus of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or concerning the frontiers of any country or territory. This Edition: REGIONAL OFFICE FOR SCIENCE IN LATIN A MERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN UNESCO OFFICE MONTEVIDEO - CLUSTER OFFICE TO ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CHILE, PARAGUAY AND URUGUAY Director a.i.: Herman van-Hooff Programme Specialist MAB: Cláudia S. Kárez Layout: Silvia Diez Translations: Jeanne Sawaya, María Fernanda Rodrígues, Regina Coeli Machado (Brasilia) Cover: Edson Fogaça (Brasilia) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO Office in Montevideo Edificio MERCOSUR Luis Piera 1992, 2o. piso Tel.: (00 598 2) 413 20 75 Fax: (00 598 2) 413 20 94 E-mail: [email protected] UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO PARA - UFPA Rector: Alex Bolonha Fiúza de Mello Vice-Rector: Marlene Rodrigues Medeiros de Freitas Pro-Rector Research and Post-graduate Education: João Farias Guerreiro NÚCLEO DE ALTOS ESTUDOS AMAZÔNICOS - NAEA Coordinator: Luis E. Aragón Vice-Coordinator: Marília Emmi PDTU Coordinator: Tereza Ximenes PLADES Coordinator: Índio Campos NAEA EDITORIAL BOARD Armin Mathis Francisco Costa Luis E. Aragón Índio Campos Marília Emmi Maurílio de Abreu Monteiro CATALOGUING Ana da Silva Santos - Librarian / NAEA Issues of Local and Global Use of Water from the Amazon / Luis E. Aragón; Miguel Clüsener-Godt (Editors) - Montevideo: UNESCO, 2004 Book in co-edition with NAEA 237p. ISBN: 92-9089-076-2 1. Water - Conservation - Amazon. 2. Resource development - Amazon. 3. Water - Use - Amazon. I. Aragón, Luis E. II. Clüsener-Godt, Miguel. CDD.333.911609811 Núcleo de Altos Estudos Amazônicos Universidade Federal do Pará Campus Universitário do Guamá Rua Augusto Correa Nº 1 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil Tel.: (55 91) 211 1231 Fax: (55 91) 211 1677 E-mail: [email protected] Home page: www.naea.ufpa.br CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 9 1. The South-South Co-operation Programme for ecodevelopment and the question of water in the Amazon ........................................................... 11 Luis E. Aragón, Miguel Clüsener-Godt 2. Plural elocution: In search of a certain uncertainty. Water that sees the sun: no color, no odor, no flavor ......................................... 17 Armando Dias Mendes 3. Evaluation of the anthropogenic impacts on the water cycle in Amazonia .............................................................................................. 37 José Ricardo Santos de Souza, Edson José Paulino da Rocha, Júlia Clarinda Paiva Cohen 4. Pollution of natural water resources in Amazonia: sources, risks and consequences ........................................................................ 57 Norbert Fenzl, Armin Mathis 5. The importance of rivers for the transportation system of the Amazon ........................................................................................ 77 Camilo Dominguez 6. Determining factors in the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the Amazon: reasons for claiming damage payments ............................................................................................. 101 José Alberto da Costa Machado, Rubem César Rodrigues Souza Issues of Local and Global Use of Water from the Amazon 7. Inclusion of the Amazon in the geopolitics of water........................................143 Bertha K. Becker 8. Legislation and institutional systems for water resource management in Brazil and their relevance to the Amazon .................................................................................................. 167 Arnaldo Augusto Setti 9. Water resource management as an element of transformation in Amazonian society............................................................... 203 Ivo Brasil 10. Amazonian co-operation for knowledge on water resources and for the sustainable use of these resources in the region ..................................................................................... 219 Marco Antonio R. Dias, Luis E. Aragón 8 INTRODUCTION Water has become one of the most critical issues of the new century and is certainly of vital importance to sustainable ecosystem management. The objective of the present monograph is to contribute substantially to discussions on water and highlight current issues that are essential for the survival of humankind. Scarcity of water in some regions and abundance of water in others, degradation of water and pollution of entire watersheds have already led to regional - and even global - conflicts. The Amazon basin, which contains 15% of the world’s freshwater resources within its watershed, has become a covered resource, the subject of international debate and the object of international desire. Given the water shortage in many regions of the world, the privileged situation of the Amazon basin could inspire misguided political decisions to “right the imbalance” at the risk of undermining the sustainable use of water resources in specific ecosystems and unleashing large-scale catastrophes. The time to act is now. Corrective measures are necessary to undo the damage already done. This will demand solid scientific input. International co-operation is needed in order to tackle head on openly the most critical issues. New approaches to problem-solving must be found as well as new avenues for co- operation, not between only the countries immediately concerned but also involving the rest of the world. Hence the title of the present monograph, Issues of Local and Global Use of Water from the Amazon. The current monograph was prepared to provide scientific input to the above- mentioned debate. It also was a contribution to the Third World Water Forum held in Kyoto, Japan, in March 2003. Papers selected for this publication were chosen from presentations given at two international seminars in Belem, Brazil, in June 2002 and March 2003, which involved more than 200 people from the region and brought together a series of eminent personalities working on water-related topics in the eight countries of the Amazon region. The Federal Minister for Science and Technology of Brazil was present at the 2003 seminar. The seminars were jointly organized within the framework of the South - South Co-operation Programme by UNESCO/MAB, UNU and the University of Para, Belem. They were also part of a collaboration between MAB and UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme. 9 Issues of Local and Global Use of Water from the Amazon The chapters of this monograph deal with many interrelated topics associated with freshwater in ecosystems with abundant water resources. There are sections about the water cycle in the Amazon, pollution, fluvial transport, energy issues, geopolitics, institutional frameworks, water resource management, and international co-operation. The added value of this publication, within the overall debate on sustainable water use, is its focus on the Amazon watershed as a whole and its inclusion of all the Amazon countries in a holistic overview. The reader will find reference material for future discussions on water-related issues in the Amazon destined to help determine future water-related work in the region. Prof. Dr. Walter R. Erdelen Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO 10 1. THE SOUTH-SOUTH CO-OPERATION PROGRAMME FOR ECO- DEVELOPMENT AND THE QUESTION OF WATER IN THE AMAZON Luis E. Aragón * Miguel Clüsener-Godt ** The year of 2003 was declared by the UN as the International Year of Water, considering the strategic character of this resource for the new century. Many events around the world have concentrated attention on that theme. The figures are really alarming: 97.5% of the existing water on Earth is salty water, and only part of fresh water (2.5% of the total) is useable. In conclusion, only 1% of fresh water on Earth is easily accessible, and the Amazon holds around 15% of this percentage. Water is also one of the most unequally distributed natural resources in the world: more than 40% of river waters, reservoirs and lakes are concentrated in six countries: Brazil, Russia, Canada, United States, China and India. Regarding consumption the disparity is also preoccupying. While a North- American, for example, has 140 litres/day of water for his own use, or a French has 150 litres/day, a person from the rural area of Madagascar has only 10 litres/day of water and it is estimated that around the world, 1.5 billion people have already no access to potable * Director, Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected] ** Organizer of the South-South Co-operation Programme for Ecodevelopment/Division of Ecological Sciences, UNESCO, Paris. E-mail: [email protected] 11 Issues of Local and Global Use of Water from the Amazon water. If urgent measures are not