A method for classifying interrelation between sectoral regulatory laws and the ‘water-energy-agriculture nexus concept’ in Brazil
Cássia Juliana Fernandes Torres,
Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Lima,
Andrea Sousa Fontes,
Daniel Veras Ribeiro,
Ícaro Thiago Andrade Moreira,
Yvonilde Dantas Pinto Medeiros
Affiliations
Cássia Juliana Fernandes Torres
Department of Environmental Sanitary Engineering, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil
Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Lima
Civil Engineering Program, Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Postgraduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio di Janeiro, Brazil
Andrea Sousa Fontes
Associate Professor Federal University Recôncavo of Bahia, Cruz das Almas, Brazil
Daniel Veras Ribeiro
Department of Materials Science and Technology, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil
Ícaro Thiago Andrade Moreira
Department of Environmental Sanitary Engineering, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil
Yvonilde Dantas Pinto Medeiros
Department of Environmental Sanitary Engineering, Polytechnic School, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil
We propose a method to classify the level of interrelation between the water, energy and agriculture sectoral regulatory laws and selected main characteristics of the nexus concept. This method was created to be applied with sectoral regulatory laws so a study case was conducted in Brazil. The results show that all analysed legislations have low to medium interrelation with the criteria intrinsic to the nexus concept; the policies that stood out the most, regarding the number of criteria present in their scopes, were the national irrigation policy and the desertification policy; and in order to operationalize the nexus concept in management models in the Brazilian context, adjustments and a restructuring of regulatory laws are necessary. The proposed method was able to investigate the interrelation between regulatory legislations with the characteristics of the nexus concept as well as their strengths and weaknesses. HIGHLIGHTS The method allows the classification of the level of interrelation between sectoral regulatory laws and the main characteristics present in the nexus concept in an innovative approach.; A simplified structure was applied based on criteria and scales that can be implemented for other spatial scales and countries.;
