Review Water resource management: A comparative evaluation of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, the European Union, and Portugal Ronaldo S. Araújo a, ⁎, Maria da Gloria Alves a , M. Teresa Condesso de Melo b , Zélia M.P. Chrispim a , M. Paula Mendes b , Gerson C. Silva Júnior c a Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LECIV-CCT), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil b Centre of Geo-Systems (CVRM), Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), Lisbon, Portugal c Department of Geology, Institute of Geosciences, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil HIGHLIGHTS • The growing scarcity of fresh water in the world, the frequent difficulties of management and interest in contributing to change this situation were the main reasons for conducting this study. • The study of water management in different contexts enables a greater understanding of the topic subsidizing the decision making of managers and society in general, in relation to environmental quality and ecological and human health. abstract article info Article history: Received 18 August 2014 Received in revised form 29 November 2014 Accepted 29 November 2014 Available online xxxx Editor: D. Barcelo Keywords: Water legislation Water resource plans Integrated management Monitoring Spatial planning This paper presents an overview of water resource management in Brazil, in particular the state of Rio de Janeiro, and in the European Union, with an emphasis on member country Portugal. The study examines the primary laws, governing bodies and water resource plans. The paper describes the concerns and interests of the scientific community and other sectors of society with regard to water resource management. The paper also draws atten- tion to challenges and opportunities concerning the main objective of water resource management, which is to ensure the availability of water of high quality and sustainable quantity. Additionally, it also mentions good and poor management practices. Among the concerns highlighted are integrated water resource management and water resource monitoring. The objective of this study was to contribute to water resource management pro- cesses. The primary reasons for this study are the growing scarcity of freshwater in the world, recurrent problems in managing this resource and a desire to contribute to the improvement of the current situation. The study of water management in different contexts allows for a greater understanding of the subject, thereby assisting the decision-making of managers and society in general with regard to environmental quality and ecological and human health. There is an increasing interest in efficient water resource management, which creates a de- mand for information on the subject. Both Brazil and the European Union are facing problems related to quantity and quality of water. Problems like scarcity of freshwater, contamination, salinization, and floods. This makes the realities of them quite close, despite the physical distance between them. In general, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, the European Union and Portugal have similar water resource management requirements. If these regions are to sup- ply a consistent quantity of high-quality water to present and future generations, then they need effective laws and plans, efficient managing agencies, political interest and economic resources. Investments in research and developing water resource management plans are inefficient measures if they are not implemented with special emphasis on monitoring and inspection. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 2. Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Science of the Total Environment xxx (2014) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: r.saraujo@hotmail.com (R.S. Araújo). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.11.098 0048-9697/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv