Challenges and Policy Responses to Local Water Management and Regulation in Brazil

Abstract

The management and regulation of urban services has emerged as one of the main development challenges for the Latin America and the Caribbean region. This article describes these two relevant institutional challenges as they manifested in the water and sanitation sector of Brazil and identifies the policy responses that occurred in the country. As a result of higher levels of administrative decentralisation and increasing private sector participation in infrastructure services, Brazilian municipalities were faced with the challenge of regulating public services. Currently, the municipalities of Brazil are experiencing the same hurdles that affected the federal and state level governments during the initial stages of structural reforms.