Round Table on Water Usage and Management

On 30th of March 2015, The Netherlands Business Support Office – NBSO Brazil, in close contact with the Consulate-General of Rio de Janeiro and the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands and partnership with the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Higher Education of the Minas Gerais state organised the RoundTable on Water Usage and Management.

The Roundtable was organised in the context of the severe drought that is taking place in Minas Gerais. This scenario has lead the State government of Minas Gerais to establish a Task Force on Water enabling all the water-related players (including the Institute for Water Management – IGAM, Water Sanitation Company – COPASA) to find solutions to this crisis.

The event was hosted by SECTES at the state governmental city, in Belo Horizonte, and counted with the participation of the Task Force’s main players, government officials, academics and mining companies. The participants were able to share experiences and expectations on technical solutions to tackle the shortage in water supply.

The keynote speaker of the round table was Water Footprint Network – WFN. This Dutch organisation was invited by the Dutch Economic Network in Brazil to present the Water Footprint assessment methodology. The Programme Director of WFN, Dr. Guoping Zhang, showcased three Water Footprint assessment practises and their successful implementation and opened the discussion of the Round Table.

Another Dutch enterprise invited to share practises was Arcadis-Logos. Engineering Advisor, Mr. Hildebrando Vasconcellos, presented some ideas and solutions based on the company’s applications on water management within the drought in the greater São Paulo area.

The results of the Round Table visit are still to come but a partnership along the Secretariat of Planning and Management of the state of Minas Gerais under the abovementioned Task Force is being thought out. The Water Footprint Methodology is highly praised by large enterprises in the mining and steel sectors, some of them have attended the Round Table and future partnerships are awaited.