In the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the archipelago's reality conditions the vulnerability of natural ecosystems and imposes a relative scarcity of alternatives. As a result, integrated water and waste management is not only an environmental policy goal. It should be also a strategic tool to achieve the goal of environmentally sustainable development in order to make ecosystem resilience compatible with economic activities as well as to strengthen fair social rights.

With regard to the waste sector, integrated planning and management must be based on the development of procedures and systems that, with a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness and an optimised cost/benefit ratio, promote waste management based on recovery, eco-efficiency and sustainability.
In turn, water supply and wastewater sanitation services are of paramount importance for the well-being, public health and collective safety of populations as well as for the enhancement of economic activities and, concomitantly, for environmental protection in the Region. It is necessary to establish, through regional legislation, the entity within the governing bodies of the Autonomous Region of the Azores that up the duties of regulating and guiding these sectors, defending citizens' interests and rights, particularly with regard to supervision and control of water quality for human consumption.
This entity also intends to contribute to a better performance of the managing entities with a view to the growing confidence in water quality on the part of users.

Accordingly, it is important to ensure the regulation of the water and waste sectors in the Region. In this context, ERSARA (Entity for the Regulation of Water and Waste Services of the Azores) is responsible for carrying regulatory and guiding duties in the areas of public drinking water supply, urban waste water and waste, in addition to monitoring and controlling the quality of drinking water.