THE LEGAL TREATMENT OF FRESH WATER RESOURCES IN BRAZIL AND IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Abstract

The article aims to verify whether the Brazilian and the North American water policies have been efficient in the face of complex and recent environmental problems. The approach methods used were the qualitative and the critical ones, whereas the procedure method was the comparison. The technique used was the bibliographical research. The United States adopts a pure system of federalism, each state has great legislative autonomy, so there is more than one legal system for the allocation of the right to water: the riparian right and the prior appropriation. Although the law in both Brazil and the US has incorporated the concept of water as a public asset, the American regime allows for the exercise of the right of ownership, the so-called water rights. Despite denying the existence of property rights on water in a macro-environmental sense, water rights permit this exercise to a portion of it. The Brazilian and the North American water systems have strengths and weaknesses that complement each other. While Brazil’s bureaucratic apparatus is not yet in accordance with its legal system, the North American water legislation needs to be improved in order to allow for more equitable access.