Carlos Wilmer Costa

Multi-criteria potential groundwater contamination and human activities: Araras watershed, Brazil

ABSTRACT Assessment of groundwater contamination potential using geological, hydrological and hydrogeological attributes, is an efficient mechanism of sub-surface water resources protection and conservation. However, usually this method does not take into consideration the potentially polluting human activities, either in punctual or diffuse sources, or because the relative importance of the attributes are not considered. The paper proposes a multi-criteria approach as a way of solving this gap, reducing subjectivity and considering land use/cover due human actions influence in the process. The study was developed in Araras river watershed (Parana Basin, Brazil) using rock, groundwater, relief, soils, and land use/land cover classification, employing multi-criteria analysis and data of contamination sources. The potential contamination classification showed the predominance (54% of the area) of very high and high potential, especially due to geological environment conditions (exploitation areas and groundwater recharge of the Itarare Aquifer - clastic sedimentary and free flow). The contaminant sources analyzed are located mainly in higher potential contamination areas.

Naturalidade da Paisagem Verificada por Meio de Indicadores Ambientais: Manancial do Rio Monjolinho, São Carlos-SP(Landscape naturalness verified by environmental indicators: Monjolinho River manantial, São Carlos-SP)

A intensificacao da urbanizacao, industrializacao e o aumento das areas destinadas ao agronegocio geram impactos negativos nos ecossistemas, modificando seus processos naturais. Torna-se necessario o emprego de indicadores ambientais que fomentem as tomadas de decisoes para minimizar os impactos gerados pelas atividades humanas. Este trabalho objetivou aplicar o Indice de Urbanidade (IB) e o Indice de Qualidade Ambiental de Recursos Hidricos (IQA-Hidro) na bacia do Rio Monjolinho a fim de verificar o quanto as atividades humanas alteram a naturalidade da paisagem. Os metodos foram baseados na algebra de mapas com o uso do software ArcGIS®, seguidos de uma analise integrada com os indices e atributos ambientais. Os resultados mostraram que 91,46% da area da bacia encontra-se em situacao de degradacao das paisagens naturais. Este cenario contribui para a perda da capacidade da bacia em prestar servicos ecossistemicos, como o fornecimento de agua para o abastecimento da cidade de Sao Carlos. A B S T R A C T The intensification of urbanization, industrialization and the increase of areas destined to agribusiness can generate negative impacts on ecosystems, changing its natural processes. The employment of environmental indicators becomes necessary to foment the decision making in the order to minimize the impacts occasioned by human activities. This work aimed to apply the Urban Index (IB) and the Environmental Quality of Hidric Resources Index (IQA-Hidro) in the Monjolinho Watershed to verify how human activities alter the landscape naturalness. The methods for elaboration of indexes were based on map algebra using the software ArcGIS® and an integrated analysis with the indexes and environmental attributes. The results showed that 91.46% of the area are in a degradative situation of natural landscapes. This scenario contributes to the loss of the basins capacity to provide ecosystem services, such as the water to supply the city of Sao Carlos . Keywords: greoprocessing, hidric resources, territorial planning, environmental indicators.