Climatologia e vulnerabilidade de socioeconomia e ambiental da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Paraíba- estudo de caso do Açude Epitácio Pessoa (Boqueirão).

Abstract

The area covered by this study is the Paraíba river basin, which consist of sub-basins High, Medium, Low Paraíba and sub-basin of the Taperoá river. The aim of this research was to study the basin under the physical and climatic factors, emphasizing the causes and effects of environmental degradation and vulnerability in the vicinity of the Epitácio Pessoa dam. The methodology is based on three distinct stages. The first evaluated the precipitation in the Paraíba river basin through monthly spatial climatology and use of the Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI), the second used questionnaires to assess the vulnerability social, economic, technological and droughts of the population living in the Epitácio Pessoa dam; and the third phase used satellite images TM/Landsat-5 in two different years to assess the vegetation and environmental degradation of the Paraíba river basin. The results show that March is the month that best contributes to the intake water in the system. September and October are the driest; and occurs two different regimes of precipitation in the river basin. Another important fact is shown by the RAI in the Taperoá sub-river basin, Upper and Middle Paraíba, these indices showed changes in the precipitation pattern from the 50's, showing a sequence of dry years followed by wet years, with the exception of the Low Paraíba who presented an undefined precipitation pattern. The vulnerabilities of the population around the Epitácio Pessoa dam ranged between low and very high, associated with lack of public policies and better manage the use and natural resources conservation. This fact was confirmed by the satellite images for years 1990 and 2004 that show an increase in environmental degradation and significant reduction of vegetation cover in the river basin studied.