Conflitos de interesses pelo uso das águas minerais: um estudo em Cambuquira – Minas Gerais

Abstract

In Brazil, the towns belonging to the Water Circuit situated in the south of Minas Gerais are mineral water references. However, they are marked by theconflicts that involve the use, the exploration and the management of the mineral waters. In this context, the objective was to understand the mobilized interests regarding the use of mineral waters in the municipality of Cambuquira (MG). In addition to the discussions on the conflicts concerning mineral waters in Brazil, the different interests around the uses of mineral waters were discussed. For the qualitative study, documental research, observation and application of Emancipatory Participative Rapid Appraisal(EPRA) were used. For the analyses, the following analytical categories were used: private, state public and non-state public interest, identifying the actors, the uses related to each one of these interests and the manifested conflicts between them.It was possible identify two central logics in conflict: water as commonwealth and as a human right should be accessibleto all (in spite of the disagreements,such concepts are also related to the tourism issue and crenotherapy) and, on the other hand, water as a product and commodity –that results in the focus ofcommercial exploitation. The study concludes by pointing out the difficulties and possibilities of shared management of mineral waters that considers the multiplicity ofuses and offers tools for mediation and resolution of conflicts of interests.