[Universalization of water supply in rural areas: the entry of Marechal Cândido Rondon, Paraná State, Brazil, into the agenda].

The Marechal Cândido Rondon municipality, Paraná State, Brazil, declares that its entire population is served by its water supply service, including those in rural areas, standing out in the Brazilian service deficit scenario. This study proposes to evaluate this success story to interpret how the universal water supply in rural areas entered the agenda of the municipality toward an effective and successful public policy. The Multiple Streams Framework by Kingdon was used as the theoretical foundation. Data were collected by document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key informants. The obtained material was subjected to a qualitative content analysis that indicated the participation of three groups of agents as essential for aligning decision-making flows. Residents' participation helped to highlight the problems related to the absence of adequate water supply. Members of the Autonomous Water and Sewage Service (SAAE, acronym in Portuguese), a municipal autarchy, developed and disseminated a viable solution characterized by community management and simplified operation technologies. Finally, years after the conception of the first projects, the municipal executive branch prioritized universal water supply in the political environment, providing the inclusion of the theme to the agenda. Defining universalization as a priority objective was fundamental for its achievement, subsidizing the performance of agents who seek to raise universalization to the agenda in other locations.