Humans have historically chosen to develop their cities close to rivers due to the need for water and food security. In Brazil, water security represents a growing challenge, despite advances in the National Water Resources Management System. While municipalities are responsible for integrating the various public policies that impact urban rivers, such as the environment, basic sanitation, and urban planning, only states and the federal government, along with watershed committees, have a formal role in the National Water Resources Management System. The goal of this paper is to assess the Brazilian water governance system from the perspective of municipalities. The OECD water governance framework is applied to a medium-sized Brazilian municipality (c. 200,000 inhabitants), Itabuna, Bahia state, through perception-based and objective data. Studies dealing with water governance do not address this reality, despite representing more than 90% Brazilian municipalities and approximately half of the country’s population. Several water governance failures were identified, such as connections between administrative and political failures, which highlight the tragic consequences of hydrological issues in this region. Developing integrated water resources’ management, as fixed in national and state laws, depends on the effective participation of the municipality. This study discusses the importance of water governance at the municipal scale.

RESUMO O presente artigo discute o papel dos municípios no Sistema Nacional de Gerenciamento de Recursos Hídricos (Singreh) do Brasil à luz da governança da água. Os municípios têm uma fraca participação nesse sistema e, em regra, não possuem uma política municipal de recursos hídricos. Apoiado em indicadores propostas pela Organização para a Cooperação e o Desenvolvimento Econômico (OCDE) e o Observatório das Águas do Brasil (OGA), identifica-se a “falha do município” na governança da água no Brasil. As atuais reformas legais, que incidem sobre os recursos hídricos, tendem a fragilizar ainda mais o papel dos municípios no Singreh. Evidenciam-se a urgência e a viabilidade de uma governança da água no âmbito dos municípios, como mecanismo para promover a gestão integrada e participativa dos recursos hídricos.