Minas Gerais Agency | Minas celebrates important advances in water management in 25 years of the State Water Resources Policy

Two important milestones for the implementation of water management actions in the state of Minas Gerais complete 25 years in 2024: the Minas Gerais State Water Resources Policy and the State Water Resources Management System (SEGRH), established in 1999, by through Law 13,199. Under the coordination of the Minas Gerais Water Management Institute (Igam), water resources policy has been advancing since its creation, with emphasis on participatory and decentralized management.

The state was divided into 36 regions, which gave rise to the 34 Hydrographic Basin Committees (CBHs) already established in Minas. Furthermore, water management involves the construction of important management tools, such as, for example, the State Water Resources Plan (Perh), which is a dynamic instrument and must always be updated.

The general director of Igam, Marcelo Fonseca, highlights the phase of innovations that the organization has been going through. “25 years ago, a very important path for the management of water resources in Minas Gerais began. Like a river, which starts small, a spring seeking to take shape, flowing in a trickle; Today, in my opinion, we continue to add tributaries, we grow in size and flow fluidly and quickly”, celebrates the director.

Igam is also responsible for monitoring water quality, inspecting, supporting CBHs and promoting the regularization of the use of water resources. In 2023 alone, from January to October, 5,500 permits and more than 9,300 insignificant use registrations were issued. “The regularization of the use of water resources is essential to guarantee the availability of water for the most diverse types of use, prioritizing those already established by law, but also guaranteeing the democratization of water use, always valuing adequate quality and quantity for all ”, explains Fonseca. “Every day we work in search of evolution and to fulfill the premise of guaranteeing water in quantity and quality for all uses and for the greatest number of people”, he adds.

State Water Resources Plan

With one of the highest national rates, Perh de Minas was revised between 2011 and 2018, and has an implementation rate of around 60%, no other plan in the country has achieved such a high rate.

Because it is dynamic, water resources management and planning are always under construction. In a new review, started in 2022 and expected to be completed by 2025, the way of working is focused on decentralization and society’s participation and will be aligned with the National Water Resources Plan (2021-2040) and the River Basin Master Plans relating to to the 36 hydrographic districts (CHS) of the state, as well as the eastern river basins.

The document will address historical challenges and current themes, such as the promotion of water security, climate change, strategies for coexistence with the semi-arid region, Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) and the safety of water dams.

Oversight

Inspection of the use or intervention in water resources owned by the State was delegated, in 2011, to the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development (Semad), and the activities are carried out by fiscal agents from the secretariat, from the State Forestry Institute ( IEF), the State Environmental Foundation (Feam) and Igam, in partnership with the Military Police of Minas Gerais (PMMG).

The inspection of water dams is carried out by Igam, with planning linked to that of Semad, with the preparation of the Annual Inspection Plan (PAF) for Dams integrated into the PAF since 2021.

Between 2018 and 2023, Sisema carried out more than 218 thousand environmental inspection actions. Of these, 32,125 relate to the water resources agenda. Regarding water accumulation dams, in 2023, 110 inspections were carried out, exceeding the number foreseen in the PAF.