Bacia hidrográfica do Rio Uberabinha: a disponibilidade de água e uso do solo sob a perspectiva da educação ambiental

Abstract

This research was motivated due to the importance that water occupies in animal and vegetable life. The principal objective was to study the availability of water of the Uberabinha River basin for the public supply of Uberlândia, beginning with the historical evolution of the use of the soil and the annual rainfall. The municipal district of Uberlândia is located in the southwestern part of the state of Minas Gerais in the Mesorregião of the Triângulo Mineiro. For the achievement of this work, first, a bibliographical survey was made on the theme: water. The following step was to become familiar with the study area. Preliminary field work was put into operation in the basin, traveling along the entire perimeter with the help of a GPS receptor and topographical charts. Later, material was collected as to the flow of the Uberabinha River, the quantity dammed up for public supply of the city and the pluviometrical indexes on a seasonal scale from 1976-2004. The flow-behaviour factor was analyzed in each one of those years and the respective pluviometrical indexes. At another time, the flow averages were examined in the dry months from May to September with the averages of the indexes in the same period to understand flowbehaviour. To fulfil the proposed objectives maps from 1964, 1979, 1994 and 2004 were utilized and the tabulation of their respective categories. During the process, it was possible to establish that the soil in the basin is intensely utilized, with practices considered harmful to the environment, understood as to its social-historical and also ethical dimension that passes through the scientific, technical, social-economic and political universe. Thus it was necessary to talk about environment education in order to motivate changes in daily practices, since the purpose of this research was to verify whether the use of the soil in the basin was endangering the supply of water for the city.