A escassez hídrica em Arroio do Padre – RS : da compreensão da problemática ás estratégias de enfrentamento

Abstract

Many problems have been faced in the municipality of Arroio do Padre / RS due to the lack of water in recent years. The present work aims to understand, through the perspective of social hydrology, how the most recent water scarcity phenomena occurred in the municipality and how the different social actors have dealt with and have been dealing with this type of problem. The methodology is based on the social hydrology method tracing an epistemological path presented in three sections: first the characterization of the environmental variables of the study area; according to the survey and documentary analysis, and third, the survey of the perception of social actors and strategies to face scarcity. The results pointed out geological and topographic factors unfavorable to the infiltration of water in the municipality, with little porous and permeable rocks. Geomorphology, hypsometry, slope and hydrography, note that the municipality is cut by a large high topographic watershed between the basin of the Pimenta stream and the southern portion of Arroio do Padre. In the center of the municipality, where the headquarters points to the highest portion, surrounded by water courses of lower orders, which is unable to fully supply the demands for supplying the rest. As it is located in a sloping area and with many first-order canals, water is difficult to distribute throughout the municipality. Based on the municipal laws, plans and decrees of Arroio do Padre, the municipality does not have a water resources management plan and only the urban area has a supply network. Still, it appears that the losses caused by drought are high, since the economy of the municipality is attributed, mainly to the economic activities of the primary sector. Most residents / farmers social actors use “cacimba” type wells to access water. As a coping strategy coming from the city hall, Managers (people who work with the municipal body in relation to environmental issues - water), supply water trucks, assistance for opening wells, but which is only carried out in an emergent case, when there is a lack of water in the locality. Based on the results, it is not correct to limit yourself to just an analysis of climatic factors, but we must also consider the environmental, social, political and economic variables as an integrated system to the problem of water scarcity.