GOVERNANCE IN WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE PIRANHAS-AÇU RIVER BASIN: AN EXAMINATION OF LEGAL-INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN THE STATES OF RIO GRANDE DO NORTE AND PARAÍBA

Abstract

The study investigates the institutional arrangements and the environmental legal order in the
management of water resources in the Piranhas-Açu river basin, from the mid-1990s, based on itsThe study investigates the legal, institutional, and environmental dimensions. This article presents a cut of Oliveira's (2013)
thesis work, with an update of the current legislation for the understanding of the phenomenon
researched here. The research adopts interdisciplinarity as an epistemological and methodological
principle and is based on the hermeneutic-systemic method and on the techniques of interpretation
and document analysis. The spatial cutout corresponds to the area covered by the Piranhas-Açu river
basin, of federal domain, located in the territories of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba. The main
objective is to analyze the governance of water management in these federal units based on their
legal and institutional arrangements. The legal interpretation of the norms related to waters
management and the performance of the respective institutional arrangements show that the state of
Paraíba presents significant advances; on the other hand, the situation in Rio Grande do Norte
indicates the need for celerity as to the production and/or normative updating, a basic presupposition
for efficient and effective water management