Indicadores de sustentabilidade hidroambiental para bacias hidrográficas do semiárido Brasileiro: uma proposta de operacionalização na sub - bacia do Rio do Peixe - PB.

Abstract

The importance of water for sustainable development gains strategic dimensions when the concept is spatialized. Spatialization yields more complex and comprehensive discussions of sustainable development for areas such as the Brazilian semiarid region through, for example, the construction of specific indicators to assist in the planning and management of local water resources. The overall objective of this work consists in the construction of a Participatory Hydro-Environmental Sustainability Index (ISHAP in Portuguese) for the sub-basin of Rio do Peixe, located in semi-arid region of Paraiba. The Index was constructed through three stages, namely: 1) a triangulation of information for formatting the system through the check-list of indicators and the characterization of watersheds located in the Brazilian semi-arid region, as well as the characterization of the sub-basin of Rio do Peixe-PB; 2) the participation of social actors in meetings and the collection of primary data to validate the system and analysis of results; and 3) application of the proposed system in the subbasin of Rio do Peixe, generating a participatory hydro-environmental sustainability index. The results from the application of ISHAP system were two-fold. First, after the implementation of the system, the two largest cities in the sub-basin had the best results, with an index of 0.7911, which corresponds to an acceptable sustainability; the municipality of Sousa had an index of 0.7311, also at the same level sustainability. When applied to the overall sub-basin, the index indicated a low level of hydrosustainability, with the value of 0.495. The strongest dimension of hydro-environmental sustainability measured was the social dimension, with the value of 0.6439, while the weakest was with the environmental dimension, with a value of 0.4080. Overall, the ISHAP System proved to be an important tool to aid discussions regarding the planning and management of local hydro-environmental realities. It is expected that the ISHAP can help to identify spatial and thematic issues in ways that will be instrumental in generating critical spatialized information.