45. Case 41: São Francisco River Basin Project

The São Francisco River Basin (SFRB) is based in Brazil. The Sao Francisco River Basin is strategically important for Brazil on account of its potential in agriculture, hydropower, tourism, urban and industrial water supply. The SFRB is known as the river of national integration since it includes different variety of biomes, climatic conditions, landscapes. The river basin links the southeast part of Brazil with the northeast part. It is the fourth longest river in Latin America. The SFB have faced serious water related problems due to water conflicts for multiple uses and predominantly for food production by irrigation. The project involves the large scale inter basin transfer of the river to the dry regions in the four northeastern states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba and Pernambuco in Brazil. The estimated cost for the project is US$2 billion. The project involved construction of 722 km of conveyance systems, 591 km of canals, 20 km of pipeline, 22 km of 12 tunnel and integration of 26 reservoirs. Approximately 1.4% of the river would be diverted for the municipal water supply, industry and irrigation purpose.