ABSTRACT

Considerations about the long-term prospects of water resources development and the balance between alternatives to expand capacity and management of demand are attributes that have been associated with a more recent view of water resources management, and this has been pursued by water managers worldwide. Initiatives to control pollution at the source, as opposed to the conventional position of extending the structural capacities to treat the effects, are elements increasingly applied to the case of urbanized basins. However, this development of the management culture is not performed uniformly covering all sectors and uses. In the case of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, the São Paulo State laws enacted to protect water sources represent an important contribution to this new management approach.