Avaliação da vazão em bacias hidrográficas com veredas, em diferentes estádios de conservação, na Apa do Rio Pandeiros MG

Abstract

The north of Minas Gerais is located in the Brazilian semiarid region and the water availability is well defined, once that in this region there is a marked seasonal climate. This leads to an imbalance in the water flow of water courses during the dry and rainy seasons. Moreover, inadequate soil management triggers the deregulation of the water flow. Changes in ecosystems of veredas (palm swamps), which are sources of the waterways, determine changes in the hydrological cycle. Specifically, the decrease in the water flow from Pandeiros river during the dry season, observed over the years, may be related to human impacts in the veredas. In this sense, the present study aimed to monitor the water flow from veredas at different stages of conservation, occurring in Environmental Protection Area of Pandeiros River, north of Minas Gerais, relating the water flow with the local temperatures and precipitation for the period of one year. Thus, the study aims to determine the degree of impact caused by the historical human activities in these environments with volumetric oscillation over time. The monitoring of water flow in the veredas was made through the construction of flow meters or the use of a windlass and the measurements of rainfall were recorded by two weather stations deployed between the veredas studied. The stage of preservation of these areas was directly connected to the water flow dynamics. So as the impact increases in the peat soils the water flow will be destabilizing, reducing to total drying, even though the surrounding areas of the vereda (outside the hydromorphic soil) are preserved.