Sustainability Analysis of an Urban Basin in Central Brazil

Abstract

A great challenge for water managers and stakeholders is the maintenance and improvement of basin sustainability, tackling the ever-increasing threats and impacts. Some catchments, such as the Paranoá River basin (Central Brazil), are facing rapid urbanization, with increasing water demand and water quality impacts that threaten their sustainability. To assess this, two basin indices, the Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI) and the Water Resources System Dynamics (WRSD), were applied to the Paranoá basin in the period between 2015 and 2018. Off-the-shelf data and tailored surveys were used as information sources. The basin WRSD and WSI scores were 0.33 and 0.60, respectively, corresponding to a medium level of hydrologic and integrated sustainability. The WSI bottlenecks were the high unit water demand in the basin, and the incipient management responses with respect to the basin’s environment, livelihood, and policy indicators. For the WRSD index, high water demand was the limiting sustainability factor. Adaptation measures to improve basin sustainability include effective water demand management and the establishment of new protected areas in the catchment.