CANADA-BRAZIL COOPERATION
COOPERAÇÃO BRASIL-CANADÁ

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) - Agência Brasileira de Cooperação (ABC)
ABAS/CE - UniSol - CPRM - GSC

YEAR-END REPORT – 2001-2002

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS

Yvon Maurice

Canadian General Coordinator – PROASNE

March 31, 2002 marked the end of the second year of operation for the CIDA-sponsored Northeastern Brazil Groundwater Project (PROASNE) and the mid-point in it’s planned four-year life span. After undergoing an Inception Phase in its first year, PROASNE has operated at full steam in 2001-2002, achieving some spectacular results that already guarantee fulfillment of GSC’s mandate to CIDA under the terms of the Contribution Agreement. Amongst the most noteworthy achievements in 2001-2002:

(a) Helicopter-borne magnetic/electromagnetic (HEM) surveys: One of the project’s original objectives was to identify, adapt, test and recommend techniques to improve the success rate of drilling productive water wells in the semi-arid, crystalline bedrock that characterizes about 80% of the million km2 of NE-Brazil. The results obtained from three pilot scale HEM surveys flown by FUGRO Airborne Surveys Ltd in 2001 show that the technique has the capability of mapping water-bearing fractures in the region, providing a reliable means to locate drill sites. The technique also provides the means to map the structure of large areas quickly, thus permitting the development of groundwater resources over an entire region rather than limiting the searches to within the boundaries of villages. This, of course, will require a new approach to water resource management which PROASNE is developing using Canadian solar energy technology (see next item). At the time of writing, the airborne results are being tested by ground geophysical techniques and by drilling test wells. A 10-day workshop took place in the city of Natal in NE-Brazil in April 2002, to examine the airborne and ground data, and plan future implementation of the technology. The April workshop also promoted the use of remote sensing, especially Radarsat technology for groundwater mapping (see item “c” below). (additional information)

(b) Solar Energy: Canadian private sector firm Sunmotor International of Calgary was contracted to adapt its specially designed d.c. motors to a line of Brazilian submersible pumps making them highly efficient when powered with energy generated by photovoltaic cells. This motor/pump combination will permit long-distance pumping with relatively low energy requirements. Another highly efficient motor/pump combination, developed by Sunmotor, will be used to operate reverse osmosis desalinization equipment using solar energy. An experimental station to demonstrate these technologies was built in the small rural community of Livramento in the state of Ceará. The station was inaugurated in November 2001 by the President of CIDA, Len Good, and was visited by the Minister for International Cooperation, Susan Whelan, in March 2002. The station, which currently serves some 22 families, is attracting a great deal of attention amongst water managers in Brazil because, of the hundreds of reverse osmosis desalinization plants currently in operation in NE-Brazil, this is the only one that is being powered by solar energy. (additional information)

(c) Remote Sensing and GIS: PROASNE is transferring technology in remote sensing and GIS, particularly in the use of Radarsat as a groundwater mapping and development tool. Two Brazilians from the university of Rio Grande do Norte were trained in 2001 by the Canadian firm Infotierra of Sherbrooke. Remote sensing specialists from GSC and Infotierra joined geophysicists from FUGRO Airborne Surveys of Toronto to deliver the April 2002 workshop on Remote Sensing and Geophysics in Groundwater Exploration and Management in Natal. (additional information)

(d) Groundwater Modeling: The 20% of NE-Brazil that is not underlain by Precambrian crystalline bedrock contains sedimentary aquifers that hold much of the region’s groundwater resources, but also tend to be over exploited and poorly managed. In an effort to improve groundwater management of one of the most important sedimentary aquifers of the region, the Açu aquifer in Rio Grande do Norte, a contract tendered to model the aquifer in order to achieve sustainable exploitation of the water resource it contains. The work will include in-depth training of Brazilian technicians from organizations that are responsible for managing the Açu aquifer. A facts finding mission was conducted in 2001 to establish the terms of reference for the contract and to discuss the needs of the partners. The contract was awarded to the firm Waterloo Hydrogeologic Inc. in April 2002; actual work is expected to begin in May. (additional information)

(e) Database Management: Groundwater management in NE-Brazil is hampered by the fact that there is a multitude of government and private organizations that collect well and water quality data, but the data held by one organization is rarely accessible or transferable to the others due to the non-standard formats of the various databases. The firm Waterloo Hydrogeologic Inc. (WHI) was contracted to develop standards and create an easily accessible, user friendly, web-based, data entry, storage and retrieval interface that will allow merger of existing datasets, the entry of new data as they are produced, and to query and retrieve data quickly and efficiently. The system will also be enhanced with a variety of visualization and interpretation tools accessible through the Internet. Once in place, Brazil will have a state-of-the-art system comparable to the best in the world. The workplan was developed in 2001 and will be implemented in 2002. The main Brazilian partner in this project is the Geological Survey of Brazil. (additional information)

(f) Research on groundwater salinity: A joint project involving the University of Waterloo and the Federal University of Ceará. The purpose of this project is to understand the causes of groundwater salinity, how it varies spatially, and which factors are responsible for this variation. We anticipate that such knowledge will facilitate exploration for better quality water in the region, reduce cost and provide better quality water to the communities. A workshop on isotope geochemistry and the initial field trip to get personnel acquainted with the field area, community problems caused by high salinity of the groundwater, and to establish an appropriate workplan for the project was conducted in June 2001. The project will be implemented over the next 12 to 18 months. In the long term, this project will include training personnel in Brazil and/or in Canada, analytical work in the labs of both universities, and meetings to present and discuss results. (additional information)

(g) Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofrac): the technology consists of taking surface water from reservoirs and storing it underground in stimulated fractures to protect it from evaporation and contamination. At the initial meeting in June, the Canadian partner, CH2M Hill, explained the technology and proceeded to recruit serious partners amongst the state-owned waterworks companies. The proposed project consists only of a feasibility study at this time. Full implementation will require compliance with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, anticipated to be a major hurdle. But if this can be overcome, this project could be one of the most important technologies to be transferred to NE-Brazil by PROASNE. Underground storage would not only protects the water from evaporation and pollution, but could also improve the quality of the existing groundwater by reducing its salinity. If the feasibility study shows that the technique will work in a fractured bedrock (crystalline) environment, this will be pioneering work because ASR today is used exclusively in sedimentary rocks. (additional information)

(h) Social/Gender Program: One of the most visible and successful aspect of PROASNE is the social and gender program that is being implemented in parallel to the technical program. Each pilot area—and there are four of them—has its own social coordinator. They are coordinated by Canadian specialist Sherry Nelligan of the Toronto firm Gender Equality Inc. under contact to PROASNE. The list of activities carried out in 2001-2002 is endless and includes: needs evaluation, small community projects, sensitization programs, gender projects, environmental studies, courses on hygiene, water conservation, agriculture, etc. The social program has become a model at CIDA; as a result, PROASNE pilot area communities are continually being visited by all levels of CIDA and government officials. Amongst the most prominent personalities to tour Project sites in 2001, in addition to the President of CIDA and the Minister for International Cooperation mentioned above, the Canadian Ambassador to Brazil, Jean-Pierre Juneau, the vice president for the Americas Bob Anderson, the Director General Don MacMaster, Opposition MP, Vic Toews, and the Director for Brazil and the Southern Cone, Anne-Marie Bourcier. (more information)

(i) Media attention: To date, PROASNE was featured in some 27 newspaper articles and 8 television broadcast, including on the Discovery Channel on May 25, 2001. (additional information)