The World Bank approved a US$57.6 million loan to the Government of the Federal District of Brasilia on 25 August 2005 to fund the Brasilia Environmentally Sustainable Project, which will help ensure quality water resources through environmental planning and management activities, poverty reduction interventions, and environmental rehabilitation in the most critical river basins.
The quantity and quality of water resources in many unplanned settlements within the Federal District and its Integrated Development Region have been adversely affected by high population, increasing water demand, and pollution.
According to the World Bank, the project is expected to help reduce regional inequalities, especially the issues associated with the sustainable use of scarce regional natural resources, such as water. It will also address waste management issues, particularly water pollution. Specifically, the project will:
• Improve water quality in the principal sources for the Federal District, reduce water treatment costs and avoid contamination and long-term compromise of these sources;
• Improve water quality of the Paranoá lake for recreation and leisure; and
• Improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods by providing integrated urban environmental services.
“This very unique project focuses on some of the most critical challenges facing large urban centers in Brazil today,” said Luiz Gabriel Azevedo, World Bank Sector Leader for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development in Brazil. “It seeks to tackle issues of environmental management, urban development, water resources, sanitation, and poverty reduction in a modern urban area such as Brasilia, in an integrated fashion.”
