Estresse hidrológico: aplicação às bacias dos rios Paraopeba e Sapucaí, Minas Gerais

Abstract

Contrasting water demands and water availabilities, among several variables that are important for natural resource management, present different scenarios, whose evaluation and interpretation are key elements for stakeholders. In this context, one of the possible alternatives refers to the concept of hydrological stress which establishes the overall balance between water availability and water demand, on the basis of the flow duration curve at a given river cross section. The central idea is to define a threshold value for the ratio between the total demand discharge and a given percentile discharge obtained from the at-site flow duration curve, beyond which the hydrological stress is established in a given watershed. This study analyzes the opportunity to employ this concept to water resources management, through a case study in the Paraopeba and Sapucaí river basin, in order to evaluate the stress level distributed by sub-basins. Hydro- logical stress indices ranged from low to high, pointing to eventual changes in the water resources management policies in the Minas Gerais State.