Multi-criteria analysis for selection of priority management programs for the Japaratuba River Basin, SE, Brazil

Carla Z A Dos Santos,Laura J Gomes,Alceu Pedrotti,Talitha S C Bezerra,Arisvaldo V Méllo Júnior

doi:10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v25n10p717-724

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Japaratuba River Basin (JRB), located in Sergipe, Brazil, has accelerated economic development due to oil exploration and an increase in the sugarcane and corn monocultures. Thus, environmental degradation has increased in the basin. Given the importance of the water supply that the hydrographic basin has for the state of Sergipe, and the need to balance its economic growth with environmental conservation, this study had the objective to analyze the Japaratuba River Basin Plan (JRBP), published in 2015, and propose the priority scale for the execution of programs arranged under the scope of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Thus, the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP) was used with data collection (water supply and distribution, sanitation, and forest cover) for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, associating Geoprocessing techniques. It was verified that among the criteria analyzed for the definition of the priority scale, those associated with the restoration of ecosystems, sanitation, and hygiene, and water quality were the ones with the highest priority for execution according to the levels of criticality observed. The multi-criteria analysis expands the context of environmental criteria to be observed in further reviews of the JRBP; and expands the strategic environmental vision in the integrated management processes of the basin.

Highlights

The water availability of the basins, hydraulic infrastructures, climate changes, the multiple demands for use and their potential conflicts, and the different development perspectives make water resources management a challenging task.The preparation of a Water Resources Plan (WRP) should consider a wide scope of strategic variables associated with aspects of sustainability that should be considered in the initial stages of formulating the plan, for example (Pizella & Souza, 2013; Souza & Teixeira, 2016; Pizella, 2019)
The results showed that a future review of the Japaratuba River Basin Plan (JRBP) should focus on environmental preservation actions, forest restoration and sanitation
The adopted methodology allows establishing a priority scale for the execution of the Basin Plan programs of the Japaratuba River, SE, based on the criticality level of the factors observed for each established criterion

Summary

Introduction

The water availability of the basins, hydraulic infrastructures, climate changes, the multiple demands for use and their potential conflicts, and the different development perspectives make water resources management a challenging task. According to the JRBP diagnosis analysis, the basin presents two main axes of pressure: (i) high rate of urbanization in the municipalities of the basin and (ii) expansion of the sugarcane and corn agribusiness These pressures result in critical factors that imply an increase in the demand for management and planning strategies. This research elaborated and analyzed the scale of priorities for executing the 24 programs adopted in the JRBP It was considered the level of criticality of the impact factors in the Basin was considered according to the selection of 6 analysis criteria, which were defined based on the United Nations Sustainable Development (SDG) objectives (UN, 2015)

Material and Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusions

Literature Cited