Collaborative Regulatory Governance in the Paraíba do Sul Watershed
Water Regulation. Collaborative Regulatory Governance. New Environmental Governance. Collaborative regulatory arrangements. Paraíba do Sul River.
[Purpose] The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing relationships between theories of collaborative regulatory governance (new environmental governance and collaborative water governance) and the institutional experience observed in the governance of the Paraíba do Sul Watershed. Based on this relational approach, collaborative water governance arrangements observed in the studied watershed are analyzed, in order to investigate how these arrangements contribute to increasing the effectiveness and legitimacy of water resource management, by galvanizing instruments of the National Water Resources Policy and strengthen the integration and cooperation of public and private actors operating in the watershed.
[Methodology/approach/design] The analysis is built from a relational perspective between the framework provided by the theories of collaborative regulatory governance and the observation of institutional practice in the Paraíba do Sul Watershed, in order to identify collaborative arrangements that conform to the theoretical apparatus set and outline ways to improve and expand the arrangements, aiming a greater effectiveness and legitimacy of water management in the watershed and achievement of regulatory objectives.
[Findings] Collaborative water governance arrangements were identified in the Paraíba do Sul River Basin aimed at the implementation of the National Water Policy instruments (water plans, grant instruments, charging for water use, informational systems and payments for environmental services), which can be improved and expanded based on the theoretical apparatus provided by theories of collaborative regulatory governance. Furthermore, the adoption of the regulatory approach proposed by the theories studied in the regulatory practices observed in the examined watershed establishes an institutional path for enhancing cooperation and integrating actions of sectoral actors.
[Practical implications] As empirically demonstrated by studies of collaborative regulatory governance in the water sector, the construction of collaborative arrangements in water management contributes to greater effectiveness and legitimacy of water policies and to the reduction of regulatory costs.
[Originality/value] This paper proposes a new approach to the study of water regulation in the Brazilian institutional context, based on theories of collaborative regulatory governance developed in the light of institutional experiences in countries that have implemented successful water management models, such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States.