Análise da degradação dos recursos hídricos em bacias hidrográficas a partir de indicadores ambientais

Environmental indicators are important mechanisms for reporting summary information or for provide a solid basis about the state of degradation of water resources in Watershed. Therefore, in this study we built up a Water Resources Potential Degradation Index (WRPDI) that focuses on the degradation of riparian forests, type of sanitation and the form of water supply present in Una River Watershed. This index use in your calculation, scientific basis and geoprocessing techniques. From the results, we found that WRPDI values are below 0.5, this is, below 50% of the maximum permissible value for this index, which is partly explained by the low values of conservation in riparian forests while the southern and central regions showed very low values due to the lack of water distribution management for human consumption and discharge of domestic sewage. The urban areas compared to rural areas showed the best WRPDI values, justified by population access to better sanitation conditions and low exposure to possible water contamination. This indicator allows numerically interpretation of water availability in the Una River watershed, and thus a fast, simple and valid alternative for assessing the sustainability of the water, and can serve as a decision-making tool for public managers and stakeholders on this issue.