Diagnóstico Ambiental da Bacia Hidrográfica do Ribeirão Santa Bárbara no Município de Orizona (GO)

Abstract

The constant environmental changes that human society imposes on nature, cause a series of negative consequences to the anthropic, physical and biotic means. In this way, this research sought to elaborate an environmental diagnosis of the Ribeirão Santa Bárbara watershed, a stream that supplies the city of Orizona, Goiás, in order to deepen the knowledge about a series of phenomena that result in the local uniqueness, The geomorphology, geology, soil types, economic factors, population, fauna, flora, in addition to land use and land cover, and the situations of permanent preservation areas were analyzed through field work and the use of geoprocessing techniques and remote sensing. At first, a summary of the historical transformations that have intensified land use in the Brazilian Cerrado regions was presented in this work, followed by the conceptual bases adopted in the research. It is emphasized that this work has a systemic character, based on the perspective defended by Tricart (1977). The environmental diagnosis model was based on the conceptualization of Sánchez (2013). In this perspective, this study has as specific objectives: to rescue in the history of Brazil, some of the main processes that intensified the indiscriminate use of land in the region, map the physical variables and land use and coverage in the mentioned watershed, in addition to characterize the main biotic components of the researched area and socioeconomic components of the municipality. Added to these, the central objective of the research is to elaborate the environmental diagnosis of the area, in order to assimilate the local dynamics and enable the elaboration of future research. In this way, the results of the research showed that the area does not have high tendencies to flooding, the main sources of income in the municipality are derived from dairy and grain production, so that the municipality is gradually increasing its exports and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The population, which was mostly rural until the early 2000s, became urban in the 2010 census, so that until the early 2020s, the city of Orizona had a relatively simple infrastructure, with no sewage system, and low Performance Indices of the Municipalities of Goias in the distribution of energy, water, telephone and internet. About the animal and vegetal species existing in the place, a wide diversity was found in the area, even though the mentioned watershed has only 26.68% of native vegetation. The agricultural areas total about 37.94% of the watershed, and, finally, the permanent preservation areas total 21.49 km2, of which approximately 86.69% are protected, and 13.31% are in illegal conditions, using these areas for grazing or farming.