Land use classification at Guarani Aquifer System outcrop area between 2002 and 2011: the case OF Ribeirão Do Jacú Watershed Tejupá/SP-Brazil

Abstract

With the increasing demand for natural resources that follows population growth, the effort to provide sufficient water for agricultural proposes causes pressure on the environment. The conflicting interests between water use and the protection of strategic water bodies in environmental protection areas reinforce the needs for adjustments on territorial organization and sustainable water resources management. This study is intended to map land use in an outcrop area of the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) and generate information to discuss better agricultural land use planning actions for groundwater resources conservation in production areas. The study area was the Ribeirão do Jacú watershed, located in Tejupá – SP, Brazil, a representative outcrop area of GAS inside the Tejupá perimeter of the Corumbataí-Botucatu-Tejupá EPA (Environmental Protection Area), considered a high vulnerability region. From land use and occupation supervised satellite image classification at Geographic Information System, it was possible to identify and to quantify the major activities developed and the actual land use conflicts in the watershed during the period between 2002 and 2011. The results showed the presence of agricultural and livestock systems in Permanent Preservation Areas (PPA’s) and a raise of irrigated agriculture in areas closed to the outflow of the basin, indicating a trend of local production intensification. This information contributes to assisting future stages of environmental planning by environment and water managers, promoting the recovery and preservation of outcrop and recharge aquifer areas.