In 2009, during the preparatory meetings for the Convention on Climate Change of Copenhagen, one of the most important

arguments that justified the Brazilian needs of establishing greenhouse gases reduction targets was the countrys vulnerability to changes on its water regime in case of the global average temperature increases more than two degrees. A presentation set up by the National Institute of Space Researches (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais INPE) warned about intense and wide impacts such as the enlargement of the dry season in the Brazilian Northeast region, the possible loss of up to 30% of the potential of generation of the hydroelectric stations placed in the Southeast region, the lack of water to supply the largest cities, and the loss of the potential of the agricultural production. Rather earlier than possibly thought, we are living all of those impacts at once. Livestock was reduced in 2 million units in the Northeast region due to the dry season, So Paulos water reservoirs are at its lowest level ever, the loss of grain and fruit harvests are being accounted, and the hydroelectrical system is desperately asking for water. The economic consequences of this crisis can exceed R$ 100 billion in 2013 and 2014. At this moment, the issue of the lack of water is being treated as a fatality of the weather, such as the hottest summer or the most atypical dry season of the last decades. But in 2009 it was already demonstrated that those events would be increasingly ordinary. Indeed, countries with less favorable water regimes, like Israel or Mexico, are much more prepared to deal with instabilities. The question is not the lack of water, but the sustainable management of this precious resource. The apparent abundance of Brazils hydric resources has made us lenient and dependent on the established model. However, this model does not sustain itself and it is fundamental to put into operation a regime that increases the water in circulation through systems of recycling, treatment and reutilization. The most important point is that we should treat water as a scarce resource and promote its efficient utilization by all means possible. We need to rescue and renew the national policy on hydric resources. The issue of the management of the water shows how essential is the incorporation of sustainability as a fundamental and inalienable principle of the Brazilian public policies. This is a prime theme that must be brought to the electoral debate of 2014.