Porto Alegre, July 8, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The national coordinator of the Guarani Water Table Project, Ana Luiza Sabóia de Freitas, declared in this capital that the proposal is being sent to representatives of the four countries that are involved: Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay, due to the importance of the water table, which supplies industries and communities and needs to be preserved to avoid becoming contaminated. "There is no single country that is coordinating the programs; they are all acting together, to assure unity," the coordinator explained, when she announced the plan at the Piratini Palace, during a meeting of the governors that make up the Codesul (Southern Development and Integration Commission) and the Regional Foreign Trade Commission of Northeast Argentina (Crecenea).

"Specifically, I believe that uniform legislation is fundamental for all the countries that are involved," affirmed the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Germano Rigotto, who underscored the importance of participation by the four countries in the Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development project, which is preventive in nature, to avoid poor usage of water, which should be protected.

The Guarani Water Table System encompasses parts of the territorities of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and contains one of the world's largest underground water reserves, covering an area of approximately 1,200,000 square kilometers. (DAS)