Avaliação ambiental do alto curso da bacia do Rio das Pedras diante da expansão urbana do setor oeste de Uberlândia - MG.

Abstract

The watershed of Rio das Pedras located in the municipalities of Uberlândia and Tupaciguara in the mesoregion of the Triângulo Mineiro region has undergone an intense transformation for several decades, mainly due to anthropic activities.This watershed takes the name of its main river, which is one of the main tributaries of the left bank of the Uberabinha River, an important wellspring of public supply in the city of Uberlândia.The high course of the Rio das Pedras watershed is the object of this study and is located in the west zone area of Uberlândia, place understood as Urban Expansion Zone of Social Interest. Besides to the rural activities practiced out in the high course of the watershed, in recent years urbanization has reached the drainage headwaters, causing negative environmental impacts to the fragile environments typical of the source. The objective of this work is to investigate the environmental impacts of the drainage headwaters of the Rio das Pedras watershed and its correlations with the growing urbanization in the west zone of Uberlândia.For that, methodology PEIR (Pressure - State - Impact - Response) was used. An analytical tool that guides the work of analyzing the interactions between the urban and the environmental.Through the orientation of the PEIR methodology, bibliographic studies, remote sensing techniques, making thematic maps and oriented fieldwork. it was concluded that the changes in the study area are before the 70s, there was a greater expansion of subdivisions in the 80s, a stagnation of buildings in the 90s and the appropriation of this space started to grow again from 2013.In the period from 1989 to 2019 there was a decrease in the period of 31,7% of pastures, but that still represents the class with the largest ground cover. Areas selected for agriculture increased by 66,3 %. Silviculture that replaced some of the areas formerly occupied by pasture currently occupy 15.12% of the total study area. The farms and water bodies remained constant in the period. The classes of uses that showed the greatest contrast between the periods analyzed were: native vegetation that decreased by 77.95% and urbanized areas that expanded 194,68%. Urbanized areas that cause the state of inadequate waste disposal, the deterioration of native vegetation and the occupation and degradation of Permanent Preservation Areas. which had a negative impact on water quality, which presented a bad IQA at the two sampling points.From the Response indicator of the PEIR methodology, laws, programs and projects were verified that can subsidize actions for the recovery and conservation of headwater areas.This is the case of the Buriti Program and the project Trees of Tomorrow, which present themselves as great initiatives but which however are punctual: first to the areas full of water catchment for public supply and second to the new subdivisions of the city.In addition to the expansion of these actions, it is necessary to involve the population in the projects, instructing them in advance in environmental education activities.