Índice de qualidade da água e avaliação da situação das áreas de preservação permanente da região do balneário Basso do Verde – Santa Maria/RS

Abstract

The dynamics of occupation and land use of the Vacacaí River Basin is a determining factor for the quality of its waters. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the current water quality condition of the Vacacaí River and its tributary called Sangrador, in the section located around the Balneário Passo do Verde - Santa Maria / RS, using the Water Quality Index developed by National Sanitation Foundation - NSF. For this, environmental monitoring of water quality lasted eleven months, starting in January and ending in November 2018, at three previously defined points. In support of the results, the situation of the Permanent Preservation Areas of the region was analyzed by mapping the remaining vegetation cover, the anthropic activities developed and the location of the local urbanized areas. The results obtained showed that the water quality was classified as "Average" in the points located on the banks of the Vacacaí River, already on the margin of the Sangrador tributary, the quality of the water was classified as "Bad". These data, when analyzed in conjunction with the mapping of the region, revealed that the low WQI average of the points studied is a consequence of unplanned urbanization and anthropic activities developed in the region, such as agriculture and sand extraction. Therefore, if mitigating and compensatory measures are not adopted soon, the recreation activities developed at Passo do Verde Spa may cause health risks for residents and visitors.