Last Wednesday, February 8, Copaíba was present in Ribeirão Preto at the preparatory meeting for the electoral process of the River Basin Committee of the Mogi-Guaçu River (CBH-Mogi) for the 2023-25 biennium. It is through this process that representatives of the Government, organized civil society and water users will be chosen who will act together in the discussion and approval of policies regarding water resources in the region covered by the basin, which includes 43 municipalities.

The participation of civil society in this process and, in particular, of environmental organizations such as Copaíba, is very important for the defense of water security in the region. This is because, in Brazil, Law No. 9,433/1997 (Water Law) establishes that water must be managed in order to provide multiple and sustainable uses and its management must take place in a decentralized and democratic manner. By principle of this law, water is understood as a limited natural resource. Therefore, human and animal consumption should always be prioritized to the detriment of their economic exploitation, especially in situations of scarcity.

At the meeting on February 8, we had the opportunity to explain the importance of Copaíba's activities in the basin of the Peixe River, a tributary of the Mogi-Guaçu River, and we were appointed, in common agreement with the other entities, as one of the 3 members of environmental organizations holders of the plenary body, the set of 14 members (and their alternates) responsible for the debates, deliberations and motions of the committee.

The other two nominated environmental entities were Grupo Ecológico Água – GEA, from Socorro, and the Associação dos Canoeiros do Rio Mogi-Guaçu, from Porto Ferreira. These entities also maintained their vacancies in the Technical Chambers of CBH-Mogi, in which matters are analyzed and discussed in more detail, and then forwarded to plenary deliberations.