Social control of land and water in the State of São Paulo: the case of the city of Pereira Barreto

Abstract

The study herein describes and analyzes how State and society exert, in a historic process, the control over land and water resources. A case study is conducted on the historical processes of territorialization that involves land and water in the city of Pereira Barreto, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Water resources have been key strategies to maximize the value of private lands. The ownership of land merges with the ownership of water. The overlapping of land and water places the management of water resources under the care of land owners. With the construction and filling of the reservoirs of Jupiá, Ilha Solteira and Três Irmãos hydroelectric plants, the regional dynamics and management of water resources in the city of Pereira Barreto and region have undergone profound social and economic structure changes. The social control of land and water is then put into practice by UHE Três Irmãos in the city of Pereira Barreto. The Water Basin Committees of the State of São Paulo emerge as social actors who have the social control of water resources and who seek, by means of water resource management, to have control of lands, thus reversing in part the aforementioned initial scenario.