A pegada hídrica total e sua sustentabilidade na sub-bacia do rio Mamanguape localizada no Estado da Paraíba.

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to analyze the total water footprint and its environmental sustainability in the sub-basin of the Mamanguape River-PB, located in the State of Paraíba, for the year 2021. In this perspective, the total water footprint in a given sub-basin is calculated by the sum of all estimates of the blue, green and gray components of the main water-using sectors. Therefore, this study is classified as exploratory and descriptive, since it involves bibliographical research, data collection and also establishes relationships among variables in order to arrive at the final result through mathematical methods. According to the data inquiry, it is evident that sanitation and the livestock are the sectors that exert the highest pressure on the sub-basin water sources. Furthermore, based on the total water footprint, environmental sustainability in the sub-basin studied can be considered unsustainable because it presented, in the year 2021, high levels of pollution that exceeded the assimilation capacity of the available natural flows. However, as the total water footprint is a multidimensional indicator, it is believed that its measurement serves as an alert about the real situation of the sub-basin studied and guides the fundamentals of planning and management of water resources in possible decision making.