92576
Guaranteeing Safe Water for All in Ceará State                                                          December 13, 2005
Ceará Integrated Water Resources Management Project (PROGERIRH)


Cyclical droughts have had a severe impact on the       President Wolfowitz visits
socio-economic development of the Ceará State in        the Castanhão reservoir
Northeast Brazil. In the 1980s, the State initiated     - Dec. 16, 2005
an ambitious program to overcome the impact of           Photos 
droughts by modernizing its water resources
                                                        President Wolfowitz visits Brazil
management system. These reforms have been              Full coverage
supported by the World Bank through three
consecutive loans. 

The Ceará Integrated Water Resources                    ALSO: 
Management Project (PROGERIRH) aims to                  The World Bank's work in Latin America &
increase the sustainable water supply for               the Caribbean in
multiple uses, improve the efficiency of Ceará's          Water & Sanitation Supply
                                                          Urban Development 
integrated water resources management system,
and decrease the vulnerability of poor
populations to cyclical drought.

Current project priorities include:

       improving the institutional, legal and
       administrative management of the water
       system; 

       rehabilitating and building hydraulic
       infrastructure;

       developing sustainable cost recovery,
       management, operation and maintenance
       systems for the hydraulic infrastructure; and
                                                        The PROGERIRH project builds on the
       integrating environmental policies with water    achievements of the first two water
                                                        resources management projects.  For
       management policies.
                                                        instance, the first project constructed 16
                                                        new dams and 335 km of conveyance
Project impacts: The project is financing the           systems, and rehabilitated 28 existing dams.
construction of a conveyance system to withdraw         In the sanitation area, approximately 40
water from the Castanhão reservoir, in the middle       localities with a population of about 400,000
of the State, and transfer it through a set of 255 km   benefited directly by gaining access to
                                                        water.
of canals and pipelines up to the Fortaleza
Metropolitan Region (Ceará State capital). The
system will:

       guarantee quality and quantity water
       supply for 5.6 million inhabitants (42% of
       State population, year 2030) living in 17
       municipalities and 57 communities, including
       the Fortaleza Metropolitan region;

       provide safe water to 23,000 ha of irrigated
       areas and to the Pecém Industrial and Port
       Complex, Ceará’s most important port area.
                         Financing

                         Total cost : $247.2 million

                         Sources of funding:
                         IBRD loan amount:  $136 million
                         Funding from State of Ceará:  $111.2
                         million

                         Implementing agency

                         Water Resources Secretariat of the State
                         Government of Ceará and its associated
                         institutions

                         More details

                          Full project information & documents

Updated: December 2005