Guarani aquifer project starts in Ribeirao Preto

Brazil kicked off its participation in the Guarani aquifer environmental protection and sustainable development project this week with a seminar in the city of Ribeirao Preto, the Sao Paulo state government reported. The Organization of American States (OAS), the project's coordinator, launched the four-year project earlier this year. It will study how to better manage water resources in the 1.2 million sq. km. aquifer shared by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Ribeirao Preto was selected as a pilot area as it is totally supplied by the aquifer, and according to state water and energy resource management agency DAEE engineer Celso Antonio Perticarrari, the area suffers from urban sprawl problems. Brazil's national water agency ANA is the project's executing agency in that country. OAS project official Roberto Kirchhmein told BNamericas last month that the project's first tenders are expected by November, which will involve cartography and monitoring network studies, while larger-scale contracts to carry out hydrographical and water source inventory studies are planned for early next year. Last year the World Bank (WB) approved a US$13.4mn Global Environment Facility grant for the US$27.2mn project, which will help the four countries draft and implement a common institutional and technical framework for the management and preservation of the aquifer system. Financing will also come from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the German Geological Service and from a WB/Netherlands government initiative, while Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay will contribute 50% in counterpart funds. Urban population and industrial growth has put a strain on available surface water and driven up demand for new water resources, according to the OAS, while urban and industrial waste, as well as pesticides, are damaging the aquifer.