CANADA-BRAZIL COOPERATION
COOPERAÇÃO BRASIL-CANADÁ

The idea for a project on groundwater in northeastern Brazil was first raised in January 1998, by Mr. Samir Nahass, Head Advisor for International Affairs at CPRM who discussed it with Dr. Yvon Maurice of GSC⁽¹⁾.  At the time, Mr. Nahass and Dr. Maurice were jointly coordinating a high profile and very successful project for CIDA, in partnership with CPRM, CANMET and CETEM, on the sustainable development of Brazil’s mineral resources.  The success achieved by that project served as an incentive to explore new venues to continue the Canada-Brazil collaboration. Groundwater Exploration and Management in Northeastern Brazil, as a theme for a new initiative, could not have been chosen better; it addresses one of the world’s most pressing humanitarian calamities; it is amongst the top priority issues for the Brazilian government; many facets of the problem can be addressed with modern technology, including Canadian technology; and it touches upon fields of expertise in which both CPRM and GSC want to expand. 

Development of the project really began in March-April of 1998 when Dr. Maurice was invited to attend a five-day workshop on Groundwater in Northeastern Brazil, in Fortaleza, the capital city of Ceará. The Fortaleza workshop was truly a technical meeting which brought together top-notch geologists and hydrogeologists from several states in the Northeast and other parts of Brazil.  The purpose was to review current knowledge of groundwater issues in the Northeast and examine ways to improve the water supply in the region.  The meeting drew a clear picture of the state of the technology in Brazil regarding groundwater exploration and management.  We heard a great deal on the application of traditional tools such as geological mapping, structural interpretation and basic hydrogeology.  Brazilian hydrogeologists have also been busy inventorying groundwater resources and in the process collecting vast quantities of data on such parameters as well locations, flow rates, water quality, usage, etc., and assembling excellent databases.  However, it was quite clear that they were not using the more sophisticated tools that could help them find solutions to the serious water shortage problemsin the Northeast.  We heard almost nothing, for example, on satellite remote sensing, ground or airborne geophysics, and nothing at all about some of the more powerful groundwater management tools such as artificial aquifer recharge, hydro-fracturing, borehole methods, computer modelling, isotope geochemistry, etc. 

Towards the end of the meeting, Dr. Maurice was given the opportunity to present an outline of a technology transfer program which could be offered within the scope of a new Canada-Brazil Cooperation Project.  The concept was received enthusiastically by most, but a few questioned what Canada, a country where there are no water shortages, could do to assist northeast Brazil, where conditions are so different from those in Canada.  The answer to that question was to come later, from the Call for Expressions of Interest (see below). 

(1)The first formal meeting to discuss this project was held in Rio de Janeiro on January 14, 1998 to which participated Mr. Samir Nahass, Dr. Yvon Maurice, and Mr. Frederico Cláudio Peixinho, Head of the Hydrology Department at CPRM, with several of his co-workers.  The next day, January 15, a meeting was held in Brasilia with Mr. Onildo Marini of ADIMB (Agência para o Desenvolvimento Tecnológico da Industria Mineral Brasileira), a non-profit organisation involved in international cooperation to explore the possibility for collaboration. 
 

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After the Fortaleza meeting, concrete ideas for a technology transfer project on groundwater exploration and management for northeastern Brazil were written and presented to CIDA in the form of a Concept Paper.  That document, which is also available in Portuguese thanks to Mr. Jean-Michel Ponsinet of CPRM in Rio de Janeiro, who did a superb job of translating it, is the first step in the application for funding under CIDA’s Canada-Brazil Technology Transfer Fund (TTF). The process of preparing the Concept Paper also brought together the first group of interested institutions, three of which would become the original partners in this endeavour: GSC, CPRM and the Ceará Branch of the Brazilian Groundwater Association (ABAS/CE). GSC and CPRM already had a long history of technical collaboration under the previous project on the sustainable development of Brazil's mineral resources.  ABAS/CE, the host of the Fortaleza workshop, was seen as an ideal complement to the GSC-CPRM partnership because of its strong local influence and profound involvement in water-related environmental and social issues. 

Mr. Clodionor Carvalho de Araújo, President of the Ceará branch of ABAS at the time, with the help of his colleagues at CPRM’s regional office in Fortaleza, canvassed other local organisations for interest and support.  Letters of intent were received from five institutions namely, COGERH, a local water resource management company; the Department of Geology of the Federal University of Ceará; CAGECE, a state owned water and sewers company; SEMACE, a state environmental agency; and SRH, the secretariat for water resources of Ceará.  Although all of the supporting letters came from the state of Ceará, expressions of interest in the project were presented verbally by representatives of other states that were present at the Fortaleza workshop, notably Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte. 

The concept paper received favourable reviews at CIDA, and in a letter dated September 16, 1998, the Agency formally invited GSC and its partners to submit a full proposal to be considered for funding under the TTF.  The letter included a number of recommendations that would have to be addressed in the subsequent project development phases, among them, the need to come up with significant financial contributions to the project from GSC, CPRM and other Brazilian participants, and the necessity to involve the end users of the groundwater (i.e. the communities) in project activities. 

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A mission to northeast Brazil was organised in December 1998 to formally present the proposed project to institutions and individuals who are involved with water issues in the region.  Taking part from Canada were Dr. Yvon Maurice, project coordinator, Dr. Jim Hunter, geophysicist at GSC, Dr. Frederick Michel, hydrogeologist at Carleton University.  Ms. Susan Southerwood of Water for People, who was stationed in Bolivia at the time, joined the group in Brazil. Her role was to advise on social issues and to examine the possibility of WFP becoming involved in the project.  All activities took place in the state of Ceará and included information sessions in Fortaleza, the state capital, technical visits of local institutions, and a field trip to the Irauçuba area, about 250 km west of the city, where drought-related problems could be examined first hand.  Sessions were also held with community leaders in Irauçuba and Tejuçuoca, two communities visited during the field trip. 

The Head Advisor for International Affairs at CPRM, Mr. Samir Nahass who was also the first Brazilian Coordinator for the Canada-Brazil Cooperation, came from Rio de Janeiro to attend the sessions. He and Professor João Manoel Filho of Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, skilfully co-chaired all the meetings. 

About 40 people from various organisations⁽²⁾, including some outside Ceará, attended the meetings in Fortaleza. The mission was organised by staff members of ABAS/CE and CPRM's regional office in Fortaleza under the direction of Mr. Clodionor Carvalho de Araújo. 

Ms. Louise Clément of the Canadian Embassy in Brasilia, and Ms. Marta Irving, both representing CIDA, and Dra. Amélia Maria Fernandes Alves, representing Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), also attended.  A 50-page report on the mission was prepared and is available at this site. 

The mission provided the Canadians with the opportunity to: 

• Meet prospective Brazilian collaborators; 
  

• Introduce the TTF program and present the framework under which it operates; 
  

• Determine the current capabilities of Brazilian institutions regarding water-related technologies and evaluate their needs; 
  

• Obtain a perspective of the water supply situation in northeastern Brazil; and 
  

• Establish the types of technologies and extent of assistance needed from Canada. 

Although this mission was an essential step in the process of developing the project and was by all accounts a great success, it fell short of providing all the elements needed to draft the final TTF proposal.  The main shortcomings were: 

• The fact that the information sessions had rather large audiences, they did not lend themselves to the kind of interchange that would have been necessary to determine areas of interest and level of participation of individual groups.  Furthermore, with few exceptions, the Brazilian decision makers were not present at these sessions making it impossible to obtain any form of commitment from the different organisations with regards to their potential human or financial resource contributions and other support. 

• Despite the fact that we had met with several community organisations during the field trip and got a good appreciation of their needs, the mission ended without a clear picture of how the social component of the project would function.  In other words, we were still uncertain about how to involve the rural communities in the project in ways that would ascertain that the technologies to be transferred would benefit them.  The main reason is that we had not met with a sufficient number of social action groups during the mission. 

• There was a certain malaise amongst representatives from other states, especially Pernambuco, because they had not been included in the mission's agenda.  It was quite clear that Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte wanted to take part in the project on the same level as Ceará. 

• The Canadian delegation did not have all the information about which technologies exist in Canada that can help Brazil with its water problems, nor was it able to estimate the level of experience in the Canadian private and public sectors in applying such technologies to conditions similar to those that exist in the northeast of Brazil.  Understandably, this led to certain scepticism among a few of the Brazilian participants.  It suddenly became clear that we needed to canvass the Canadian private and public sectors for answers to these questions. 

These shortcomings made it necessary to plan for another development mission to Brazil.  This took place in May 1999. 

(2)ABAS, ABC, APRECE, CAGECE, CEDEC, CPRM, FUNCAP, FUNCEME, ICCN, SECITECE, SOHIDRA, SUDENE, UFC, UFPE, UFRN, Victoria Assessoria .

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A pressing issue that needed to be addressed quickly was to ascertain whether Canada had, as we thought she did, the relevant technologies and experience to transfer to the Brazilians in the area of groundwater exploration and management.  It was also important to gauge how widespread and available was the Canadian expertise in this area, and how much interest such a project would generate in Canada. 

Using the official Government of Canada tendering site on the Internet, known as MERX , a call for expressions of interest was posted during the entire month of February 1999. 

The response was overwhelming and left no doubts that Canada had a great deal to offer Brazil in groundwater related technologies.  Over eighty (80) replies were received covering the entire spectrum of water related technologies (see Preliminary Project Plan).  The level of interest and the enthusiasm was also much greater than had been anticipated.  Nearly all the respondents indicated in their submissions that they regarded the project as an extremely worthwhile undertaking. Private sector firms also saw opportunities to penetrate the difficult Brazilian market, while research institutions, including seven universities, considered the project as a unique occasion to apply their skills to a world class problem. 

The responses show that Canadians are not only foremost in state-of-the-art technology, equipment and in their ability to carry out first-rate studies and surveys, but they also possess vast experience in applying their skills towards helping resolve problems in underprivileged regions of the world, through the long tradition that Canada has of helping countries in need.  Thus, many of the respondents have gained considerable amounts of relevant experience by participating in water projects around the world on behalf of CIDA, IDRC, the World Bank and other humanitarian organisations.  Many of these regions exhibit conditions that are similar to those found in northeastern Brazil and, therefore, their experience is extremely valuable and relevant. 

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Although the project's Web Site was created in February 1999 to provide additional information for the benefit of those who wanted to respond to the Call for Expressions of Interest, the site underwent major expansion in April of that year with the posting of the project's first Newsletter.  This item was intended to keep informed all those who had responded to the Call for Expressions of Interest.  But, because the site's URL was distributed to the major Internet search engines, it attracted a lot of attention throughout Canada, Brazil and other regions of the world.  Many new contacts are being established on a regular basis as a result of having the Web Site, thus providing a continuously expanding pool of potential resources for the project. 

The value of the Web Site to inform and generate interest in the project was recognized at the onset, and it became clear that it was important to keep it current. Later, as the project evolved, the Web Site became the principal means of dispersing results by posting progress reports, papers, photographs, etc., saving the project tens of thousands of dollars in printing costs and postage. The Web Site was primarily aimed at informing the project's partners and collaborators, including CIDA, but it soon became obvious that it was reaching a much broader audience worldwide, due mainly to the power of the Internet search engines.  For that reason, it was decided not to restrict its access, eventhought not everything on the Web Site can be considered of interest to the general public.

The Web Site formula was chosen over the printing of a regular newsletter, as many similar projects often do. In our opinion, a Web Site can reach a much wider audience, provide more material that will be accessed over a longer period of time, and at a much lower cost, than printing and distributing a newsletter.   The PROASNE Web Site is  trilingual and is currently (August 2003) residing on the Mineral Resources Division server at the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa.

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The 2nd Project Development Mission lasted eighteen days (May 11 to 28, 1999) and included visits to five cities: Recife, Fortaleza, Natal, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.  Dr. Yvon Maurice was the only participant from Canada; he was accompanied throughout by his Brazilian counterpart, Mr. Samir Nahass, and by Mr. Humberto José T.R. de Albuquerque, Chief of Hydrogeology Division at CPRM.  All three put in a great deal of effort which resulted in the mission being very successful, accomplishing far more than was originally anticipated⁽³⁾. 

The initial objectives of the mission were: 
 

1. To present and discuss the Canadian responses to the Call for Expressions of Interest with representatives of key Brazilian institutions.  This essential element (i.e. an understanding of what Canada could offer in terms of technology) was lacking during the previous mission to Brazil in December 1998. This time, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte were included on the agenda. 
   

2. To meet one-on-one with the managers and decision makers of some key Brazilian organisations involved in water resource development and management in northeast Brazil to discuss the extent to which their organisations will be involved in the project and ascertain their commitment for financial and other support.  Of prime interest were the main public companies that have the resources and equipment needed to carry out drilling and waterworks projects needed to support the technology transfer exercise. 
   

3. Meet with environmental and social organisations to stimulate their interest and discuss ways of involving them and incorporating a strong social agenda into the project.  Of special interest was a planned meeting with representatives of Comunidade Solidária, a high profile social action group connected to the highest levels of the Brazilian Government. 

In all, 30 meetings were held with groups of wide ranging interests and priorities including community organisations, social service providers, environmental groups, universities, research institutions, federal and state waterworks companies, health organisations, financial institutions and funding agencies (see partial list).  The inclusion of such diverse groups in the new project was regarded as positive and even essential to its success, but it was sure to bring about a great deal of complexity for the managers.   

The reaction to the Canadian technologies as presented in the package of Canadian responses to the Call for Expressions of Interest was very positive . There was interest for just about every type of technology being offered.  Airborne geophysics applied to aquifer and salinity mapping, and artificial aquifer recharge, were regarded as particularly promising techniques for the region.  Neither has ever been used in northeastern Brazil.  Also, the unique Canadian expertise in hydrology of fractured rocks drew considerable interest especially from the universities.  But it was the fact that most of the Canadian companies and specialists included in the package have world-wide experience, many of them in arid and semi-arid regions of the globe, that was considered the most important factor. 

As important as it was for everyone to know what Canadian organisations had to offer in terms of technology to northeast Brazil, it was also essential for the Brazilians to decide what they wanted to do with this technology and how they saw the transfer take place.  This is when it was decided that the Brazilians would prepare proposals, one for each state, in which these issues and others would be discussed in detail. 

It was agreed that the proposals would be submitted within 30 days (i.e. by the end of June 1999). This would allow time for the Brazilians to hold further meetings as required and to develop a project that is appropriate for their needs.  A few guidelines were set for the preparation of the proposals: 
 

• Each state was to choose a pilot area where the new technologies will be applied.  Pilot areas should be located in rural settings and include communities that have serious water supply problems.  The pilot project approach will make it easier to involve the communities in project activities and ensure that the program responds to their needs. 
  

• From the list of Canadian technologies being offered, which ones would Brazilian institutions like to have transferred, and why?  The proposal should include a discussion of why Canadian technologies are important to northeast Brazil and how such technologies will help the institutions involved. 
  

• Identify the participating Brazilian organisations and define their respective roles. List personnel who will/may be involved. 
  

• Elaborate a social plan: (a) discuss how the new technologies will benefit the communities in need, and (b) how will the population of these communities participate in the project. 
  

• How to ensure that the results of the project continue to benefit the region after the CIDA project has ended.
  

• How will Brazilian institutions contribute financially to project costs. 

In each state, teams were set up to coordinate the preparation of the proposals: 

• in Recife, Sebastião Milton Pinheiro da Silva, José Carlos da Silva and Manoel Júlio da Trindade Gomes Galvão (all CPRM); 
  

• in Fortaleza, Oderson Antônio de Sousa Filho and Jaime Quintas dos Santos Colares (CPRM); and 
  

• in Natal, Emanuel F. Jardim de Sá (UFRN), Marcelo A. de Queiroz (CAERN) and José Geraldo de Melo (UFRN). 

Two of the meetings held during the mission had special significance.  The first was on May 14th at SUDENE's headquarters in Recife, and the second, with representatives of Comunidade Solidária in Brasilia, on May 26th. These organisations have a great deal of influence on the socio-economic development of the Northeast and both were invited to participate in the project as full partners with representatives on the project's Steering Committee.  In addition, Comunidade Solidária was asked to appoint a Social Coordinator for the project. 

Formal letters of invitation, signed by the former Director-President of CPRM, Dr. Carlos Oití Berbert and Dr. Murray Duke, Director General at the GSC, were sent to SUDENE and to Comunidade Solidária.  The response from Doutor Milton Seligman, Executive Secretary of the Comunidade Solidária Program, appointing Dr. Milton Rondó Filho⁽⁴⁾ as the project's Social Coordinator  and that of Doutor Aloisio Sotero, former Superintendente of SUDENE⁽⁵⁾, appointing Mr. Carlos Fernando Pinto Teixeira as their representative on the project’s committee, were received soon after. 

(3) For more information on the 2nd Project Development Mission and its outcomes, please see June 1999 Newsletter.
(4) Dr. Milton Rondó Filho has since been assigned other duties within the Brazilian Government and is unable to fulfil his mandate as social coordinator for the project; he has been replaced in this function by Dr. Antonio César Gonçalves Borges. Much later, in 2000, Ms. Elizabeth Vargas became the Comunidade Solidária representative for the project.
(5) In October 1999, Marcos Formiga took over from Aloisio Sotero as Superintêndente da SUDENE.

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The Brazilian proposals were received, examined and compiled during the months of June and July 1999.  They were assembled into a volume entitled Project Proposals from Brazilian Partners and Participants, which was submitted to CIDA and ABC as part of the TTF application.  The volume is divided into three parts, one for each state.  Each part contains a summary proposal to which are attached specific proposals and expressions of interest from individual organisations that wished to participate in the new project. 

The Brazilian proposals have given a completely new perspective to the cooperation project.  It is clear that Brazil intends to seize the opportunity that Canada is willing to inject new technologies in the Northeast to launch major new initiatives in each of the three states.  These state projects will ensure that the new technologies are adopted quickly and applied to real life situations.  The project is no longer just a Canadian-led endeavour in which Brazilians will participate, but it is now clearly a Brazil-driven operation to which Canada will contribute technology as required.  The program, however, will be dependent on the new technologies, and input from Canada remains crucial to its success. 

The clearest sign that the Brazilians are serious about this program is in the resources that they are prepared to allocate to it.  So far, over 8.6 million reais (or about Can$ 6.8 million) have been identified.  This amount is considerably more than the financial contribution that was initially expected from Brazil, but it doesn't come as a complete surprise when we consider that the Northeast water situation is a national priority and that the Brazilian government has already spent billions on the problem and expects to spend a great deal more before it is resolved. 

The lion share of the Brazilian resources will come from CPRM, state water management and waterworks companies (EBAPE, SOHIDRA, SERHID, CAERN), research institutions including funding agencies (UFPE/LAHID, UFRN, CAPES/CNPq, PADCT, FUNCEME, ICCN), and other national and international agencies (CPRH, FNS, World Vision).  As stated earlier, the program will also be breaking ground in bringing all these groups to work together towards resolving a problem that affects everyone.  The Brazilian proposals show how this will be done, and Canada will help provide the technology when and where it is needed.  The stage is indeed set for an excellent program to be implemented, with incalculable benefits to a large number of participants and millions of people. 

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Technical Mission to Canada
September 1999

A visit to Canada was oganized for a group of five Brazilians, all involved with the "technical" aspect of the water problem in northeast Brazil⁽⁶⁾. The visit included some of the southern Ontario firms which had responded to the Call for Expressions of Interest in February. The purpose was to provide a sample of the Canadian technology that could be made available to Brazil, and to discuss specific issues that may be addressed in future project activities.

The Brazilian delegation was composed of:
João Manoel Filho: Professor of Hydrogeology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife 
Sebastião Milton da Silva: Remote Sensing Specialist, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 
Humberto Albuquerque: Head of the Hydrogeology Division, Geological Survey of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro 
Walter Medeiros: Professor of Geophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 
Fernando Feitosa: Senior Hydrogeologist, Geological Survey of Brazil, Fortaleza 

The institutions visited were:
R.J. Burnside International, Orangeville, Ont
Geoterrex-Dighem (now FUGRO Airborne Surveys), Mississauga and Ottawa, Ont
Groundwater Services International, Mississauga, Ont
Klohn-Crippen Consultants Ltd., Toronto, Ont
Waterloo Hydrogeologic Inc., Waterloo, Ont
The Manheim Treatment Plant, Municipality of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont
CRESTech, Waterloo, Ont
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont
Smithville Phase IV, St-Catherines, Ont
Lakefield Research, Lakefield, Ont
Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ont
Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Ottawa, Ont
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
Canadian International Development Agency, Hull, Qué

A series of photographs highlighting the principal stops and events of the Brazilian Technical Visit to Canada of September 1999 is presented elsewhere at this site.

(6) This was considered unbalanced by CIDA, and the shortcoming could only be rectified by organizing a "social" mission in the future. This took place two years later in September 2001.

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Submission of Final Proposal - November 1999
and Project Approval - April 2000

By the time of the September 1999 Technical Mission to Canada, the writing of the final proposal was well underway. It follows the Result Based Management style preferred by CIDA, with its central piece, the Logical Framework Analysis (LFA).  The goal of the project was stated as follows:

To improve the quality of life of the people of northeastern Brazil who are severely impacted by drought, by developing the region’s groundwater resources and providing long-term access to a more regular and abundant supply of good quality water.

It had four principal objectives:

• Objective #1: Enhance the capability of Brazilian institutions involved in groundwater research and management, to conduct surveys, studies and water management projects that will effectively lead to an improvement in the water supply in northeastern Brazil.
  

• Objective #2: Improve the water supply situation in selected areas of Pernambuco, Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte by applying the newly transferred Canadian technologies.
  

• Objective #3: Improve the level of awareness and basic water management skills of the rural population to ensure the maximum benefits and sustainability of the results of the projects.
  

• Objective #4: Establish long-term linkages between Canadian and Brazilian private and public institutions involved in groundwater research and management to ensure the sustainability and the widest possible dissemination of the project's results, and continuance of Canadian technological influence long after CIDA’s involvement has ended.

The 64-page document plus appendices was finally submitted to CIDA in early November 1999.  It was accompanied by two large volumes, one containing the Expressions of Interest of some 40 Canadian private firms and public institutions, and the second, containing the Detailed Proposals from Brazilian institutions in the three participating states, Ceará, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte. The complete proposal (pdf) without the appendices and accompanying volumes is available at this site.

CIDA approved the project in April 2000 under the condition that certain aspects of the original proposal would be further developed during a six month Inception Phase.  In particular, the reviewers at CIDA felt that the proposal needed a more elaborate gender and environmental strategy, a sustainability plan, a better management structure with better defined roles for the partners and committees, and a clear monitoring and reporting strategy.  They also requested that the LFA by revised and simplified (put one page instead of 3) and that the performance measurement framework be better established.  All this was accomplished in the following 6 months and generated several documents including a Environmental Analysis (pdf), and the Project Implementation Plan - PIP (pdf) which included the revised LFA (see page 39 of the PIP). After reviewing these documents, CIDA granted full approval for the project in early 2001.

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 last modified: 2004-09-06

Water delivery to a small community in Ceará, December 1998

A typical scene during the devastating 1997-1999 drought in NE-Brazil

Photo: Jader Parente Filho, CPRM