TY - JOUR
T1 - Cattle, clean water, and climate change
T2 - Policy choices for the Brazilian agricultural frontier
AU - Bell, Andrew Reid
AU - Lemos, Maria Carmen
AU - Scavia, Donald
PY - 2010/11/15
Y1 - 2010/11/15
N2 - 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, particularly in the context of climate change. We examine the role that river basin councils (RBCs) - a water governance option of Brazil's 1997 National Water Act - might play in managing this nonpoint-source pollution in the Amazoânian state of Rondoânia. We implement a simple coupled rancher-water system model to compare two potential governance options: a bulk water cleanup charge (BWC) implemented by RBCs and a land-use fine (LUF) for failing to maintain riparian buffers. We find no significant advantage of BWC over LUF in reducing sediment loading while keeping ranching profitable, under a changing climate. We also fail to find in Rondoânia the important stake in water issues that has driven water reform elsewhere in Brazil. Moreover, the comparative success of reforestation programs suggests these programs may, in fact, have the potential to manage nonpoint-source agricultural pollution in the region.
AB - 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, particularly in the context of climate change. We examine the role that river basin councils (RBCs) - a water governance option of Brazil's 1997 National Water Act - might play in managing this nonpoint-source pollution in the Amazoânian state of Rondoânia. We implement a simple coupled rancher-water system model to compare two potential governance options: a bulk water cleanup charge (BWC) implemented by RBCs and a land-use fine (LUF) for failing to maintain riparian buffers. We find no significant advantage of BWC over LUF in reducing sediment loading while keeping ranching profitable, under a changing climate. We also fail to find in Rondoânia the important stake in water issues that has driven water reform elsewhere in Brazil. Moreover, the comparative success of reforestation programs suggests these programs may, in fact, have the potential to manage nonpoint-source agricultural pollution in the region.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78449239750&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78449239750&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/es101729z
DO - 10.1021/es101729z
M3 - Article
C2 - 20961050
AN - SCOPUS:78449239750
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 44
SP - 8377
EP - 8384
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 22
ER -