Assessment of water degradation in the hydrographic basin tocantins Araguaia

Abstract

The need for methodologies that make assessments of hydrological conditions and land use and occupation, as well as assisting in decision making, are essential for river basin planning and management. The objective of this study is to identify the degree of environmental degradation of water resources in the Tocantins Araguaia Hydrographic Region (RHTA). For this, the methodology of the Rapid Assessment Protocol for Ecological Integrity and the Leopold Matrix was applied, along with geoprocessing. The results showed that about 50% of RHTA present an environmental change and 16% is impacted. The evaluated sections showed medium and great intensity of alteration of the natural conditions of the water courses. The use of geoprocessing served as an excellent tool to map the conditions of use and occupation of the land and facilitated the understanding of the scenario of the conditions of basic sanitation and the available water resources in this region. In addition, it was found that the integrated use among the methodologies used, is a viable option for the monitoring of environmental quality.