5 April 2013: The World Bank has reported on the Ceará Integrated Water Resources Management Project (PROGERIRH), which assures water supply in the city of Fortaleza, located in Ceará state, a semi-arid region of Brazil.

Assisting 3.6 million people during drought seasons, the project rehabilitated reservoirs, improved water transportation facilities, enhanced irrigation in agricultural areas and increased availability of drinkable water.

According to the World Bank, the project successfully helped the recovery of 523 hectares of degraded area from 2000 to 2011, guaranteed water supply from 10,333.4 million m3 to 1,692.7 million m3, and increased water availability to the Fortaleza Metropolitan Region from 6.6 m3/sec to 13.2 m3/sec. In total, eight reservoirs were built, helping to cope with past challenges related to inadequate storage.

The World Bank reports that the state of Ceará is currently privileging the water quality of these reservoirs and is working on the Ceará Water Belt, “a gravity-fed conveyance system of approximately 1,300 km length and flow rate of 30 m3/s, which is expected to cover 100% of water demands for human consumption, industry, tourism and irrigation by 2040.” [World Bank Press Release on Better Water Supply] [World Bank Press Release on Socially Inclusive Growth]