In August 2010 Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, countries that share the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS), signed a new agreement for the management of this complex system. The four countries are now invloved in the ratification process and in the negotiations of institutional aspects, including discussions regarding an annex to the Agreement on arbitration procedures. Against this background, the management of the GAS will benefit from the debate which took place about the steps that have been taken until now, and about the challanges that lay ahead. The conference "The Management of the Guarani Aquifer System: An Example of Cooperation" was held in Sao Paulo - Brazil, from 21 to 23 September 2011.
The main topics were organised into three sessions:
- An assessment of the scientific knowledge of the GAS
- Current use and protection of the Guarani Aquifer System
- The GAS and regional cooperation
The conference contributes to the ISARM initiative and is supported by the Associacao Brasileira de Aguas Subterraneas, the Associacao Brasilerira de Recursos Hidricos, the Sociedade Brasileira de Geologia de Engenharia and the Sociedade Brasileira de Geologia.
The conference led to a series of Conclusions and Recommendations (Portuguese, Spanish, English) available here.
The text of the Guarani Agreement (Portuguese and Spanish) is available here.
