Agência Nacional de Águas: uma análise de sua natureza e de seu papel no sistema nacional de gerenciamento de recursos hídricos

Abstract

Water management in Brazil has gained new contours with the enactment of Law 9.433/97, which established the figure of hydrographic basin committees. The Brazilian model of water resource management, inspired by the French experience, becomes decentralized and participatory. Thus, the element “regulation” in this sector is not clearly established. Therefore, this study aims to understand how works the Brazilian National Water Agency, ANA (abbreviation in Portuguese), considering the aspects of the functions assigned to it and the theoretical perspective concerning the Regulation and Regulatory Agencies. The aim of this study is to identify the nature of the ANA and analyze its role in the regulation of water resources in Brazil and its relationship with other members of the National System for Water Resources. This is a descriptive, with exploratory character conducted through documentary research and bibliographic survey. It presents a historical evolution of management and regulation of water resources in Brazil, presenting the current legal framework of the sector. Then, to contextualize the regulatory process in Brazil, presents a brief discussion of the Welfare State origins and the crisis that happened during the 70’s - 90’s, with economic and ideological reflections that had affected the structure of Brazilian State, leading to reform its institutional apparatus, initiating the process of agencification in the country. It also discusses the theoretical aspects of the regulation and its implications for the relationship between the State, the society and the service providers, as well as in the organizational apparatus necessary for effective the regulation. Then examines the role of regulation the National System of Water Resources Management, evidencing the diffusion of this element throughout its. It concludes that regulation in the sector is not carried out by a single entity, and the existence of ANA is a result of the process of symbolic mimicry occurred in a context of change in public management models in the country, not being such an existence supported by technical and conceptual arguments.