Saving Brazil's rivers is a top priority this year, says Environment minister Jose Sarney Filho. With that goal in mind, a program is underway to clean up the river basins under the authority of the National Water Agency (ANA). The basic approach is to encourage sewage treatment and sanitation. Municipalities or private firms will receive resources based on the final outcome, not financing for works that often are left unfinished, explained Jerson Kelman, ANA president.

Every 'real' (Brazil's currency) invested in clean water saves five in medical assistance, he maintains. But less than 10 percent of the country's industrial and urban run-off is treated before it reaches the rivers or the Atlantic Ocean. The program's current budget is 8.8 million dollars.