Efeitos da urbanização e eutrofização sobre a saúde de um ambiente aquático: Estudo de caso: Lagoa Central de Lagoa Santa-MG

Abstract

The population growth and the unplanned urban occupation of the Lagoa Santa district has brought several environmental impacts, with direct consequences to the aquatic ecosystems. Significant changes have been occurring on those environments during the last decades, more intensively during the last years. The Lagoa Central in particular, due to its location and its specificities has been absorbing a great part of the impacts, many of which could be avoided. All this modification has deteriorated the water quality, reducing the local biodiversity, which endangers its multiple uses, such as recreation, entertainment and tourism. On this degradation scenario, the occurrence of cyanobacteria blooming on the Lagoa Central has contributed even more to aggravate the situation, and it represents a threat to the environmental balance and especially to the health of its users due to potential toxicity. Despite all the problems listed above, what is expected with the present study is to gather technical and scientific information produced on the last years and present them in a socio-environmental context. The solutions for the Lagoa Santa socio-environmental problems necessarily goes trough a sustainable development politic for the region, where civil society and public power together secure the preservation of the hydric and natural resources for the future generation.