Water quality in the Tietê river basin in and around São Paulo, Brazil, South America’s biggest city, has shown improvement, thanks to a decades-long cleanup project. On that, everyone seems to be agreed. Consensus breaks down, however, on the question of whether the progress to date is anywhere near what’s needed. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Sabesp, the São Paulo state-government-run water and sewer company, have spearheaded the cleanup since it began in 1992. IDB loans to Sabesp, along with the company’s own capital, have made up most of the cleanup funds. Financing also has come from Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES). In the program’s first two phases (1992-98 and 2000-08), US$1.6 billion was spent to expand the capacity... [Log in to read more]