Keeping waters clean: Environmental licensing in Rondonia
In the Amazonian agricultural frontier, pasture for cattle ranching is an important and potentially hazardous form of land use because of sediment erosion as pastures degrade. This relationship between ranching, sediment load and water quality is likely to further exacerbate environmental impacts in the region, particularly in the context of climate change. We examine the role that river basin councils (RBCs) – one of the water governance options written into Brazil’s 1997 National Water Act – might play in managing this non-point-source pollution issue in the Amazônian state of Rondônia. We implement a simple systems dynamics model of the coupled rancher-water system to compare between two potential governance options: first, a bulk water clean-up charge (BWC) implemented by RBCs and, second, a land-use fine (LUF) for failing to maintain riparian buffers based on other approaches being developed across the Amazon. We find no significant advantage to BWC over LUF in reducing sediment loading while keeping ranching profitable, across scenarios of climate change. We also fail to find in the Rondônian ranching landscape the stake in water issues that has driven water reform elsewhere in Brazil. Moreover, the comparative success of environmental programs driven by concerns over forest cover suggests that these programs may have potential to manage the issue of non-point-source agricultural pollution in the region.