Use of causal chain for an institutional analysis of water resources management in a semiarid reservoir in Paraíba

It has been used for urban water supply, irrigation and fishing activities. In the last 15 years, this reservoir has faced two episodes of great depletion of its storage volume due to the occurrence of extreme drought events and problems in its management.

An evaluation of Epitacio Pessoa Reservoir was performed under the institutional aspect of water resources management in three periods representing the high climatic variability in the region (dry and rainy periods) in which the reservoir is located. The definition of the proposed methodology of this study describes the diagnostic of water resources management and the use of the Causal Chain Analysis (ACC) methodology.