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114 pp. / Riparian areas occupy less than 2% of the arid Western United States. Their importance is disproportionate to the small area they occupy because of their multiple use applications. Riparian areas provide recreational amenities, habitat and travel corridors for wildlife, livestock grazing areas and influence water quality and quantity. In Arizona, as in many other states, there is a need to provide science-based educational publications to inform the public on riparian areas. In this publications the information will focus on: 1) the definition, importance and characterization of riparian areas 2) hydrologic, geomorphic, climatic, and biological processes in riparian areas, and 3) human alterations to riparian areas. This information is essential for land-managers and the general public to manage properly or restore healthy riparian areas.

Hydrological balance and biogeochemical processes in watershed are significantly influenced by changes in land use land cover (LULC) and climate change. Those changes can influence interception, evapotranspiration (ET), infiltration, soil moisture, water balance and biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and other elements at regional to global scales. The impacts of these hydrological disturbances are generally reflected in form of increasing runoff rate and volume, more intense and frequent floods, decreasing groundwater recharge and base flow, elevated levels of sediments and increase in concentration of nutrients in both streams and shallow groundwater. Water quality of Sudbury, Assabet and Concord (SuAsCo) watershed in Massachusetts is also compromised because of influx of runoff, sediments and nutrients. There is a crucial need to evaluate the synergistic effects of LULC change and climate change on the water quality and water quantity in a watershed system. A watershed simulation model is used to simulate hydrologic processes and water quality changes in sediment loads, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). The model is calibrated and validated with field-measured data. Climatic scenarios are represented by downscaled regional projections from Global Climate Model (GCM) models and regional built out scenarios of LULC are used to assess the impacts of projected LULC and climate change on water quality and water quantity. Simultaneous changes in LULC and climate significantly affect the water resources in the SuAsCo River watershed. Change in climate increased ET (4.7 %) because of high temperature, but independent change in land cover reduced ET (6.5%) because of less available vegetation. Combined change in land cover and climate reduced ET (2.1%) overall, which indicates that land cover change has significant impact on ET. Change in climate increased total run off (6%) and this increase is more significant as compared to 2.7 % increase in total runoff caused by land cover change. Change in land cover increased surface runoff more significantly (69.2%) than 7.9 % increase caused by climate change. Combined change in land cover and climate further increased the average storm peak volume (12.8 percent) because of high precipitation and impervious area in future. There is a potential for reducing runoff, sediments and nutrients loads by using conservation policies and adaptation strategies. This research provides valuable information about the dynamics of watershed system, as well as the complex processes that impair water resources.

A busca de ferramentas que contribuam com a melhoria da interpretação de informações referentes aos diversos usos do solo e suas conseqüências aos corpos aquáticos é tarefa importante tendo em vista que as qualidades do solo e da água sempre afetaram a civilização humana. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo a quantificação, com enfoque de primeira aproximação, a partir de dados existentes, da erosão, da produção de sedimentos e de alguns parâmetros do ciclo hidrológico de um compartimento da bacia hidrográfica do rio Mogi-Guaçu, região central do estado de São Paulo, submetida a diferentes usos do solo. Foi construída a base de dados digital e foram delimitadas duas microbacias hidrográficas, uma sub-bacia hidrográfica, duas bacias de drenagem e duas sub-bacias de drenagem que abrangeram os municípios de Luiz Antônio, São Carlos, Rincão, Santa Lúcia e Américo Brasiliense. A área de estudo incluiu, no município de Luiz Antônio, uma parte da Estação Ecológica de Jataí, importante unidade de conservação do estado. A perda de solo anual foi estimada utilizando-se a equação universal de perda de solo (EUPS) e a produção de sedimentos e os parâmetros do balanço hídrico a partir do modelo soil and water assessment tool (SWAT – 2000). A metodologia desenvolvida, em função da aplicação desses modelos computacionais de maneira simultânea, foi eficaz na caracterização ambiental da área de estudo, na simulação de cenários ambientais e na identificação de áreas mais vulneráveis, gerando respostas complementares. O SWAT foi sensível às mudanças de cenários de uso do solo e ao conjunto de dados disponíveis relacionados à área de estudo. / The search for tools that contribute to enhance the interpretation of information about the diverse uses of soil and their consequences on aquatic bodies is an important task, since the qualities of soil and water have always affected human civilization. The goal of the present work was to quantify, by a first approximation and based on existing data, the erosion, the production of sediments and several parameters of the hydrological cycle of a compartment of the hydrographic basin of the Mogi Guaçu river situated in the central region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil and subjected to different soil uses. A digital database was constructed and two hydrographic microbasins, two drainage basins, and two drainage sub-basins were delimited, covering the municipalities of Luiz Antônio, São Carlos, Rincão, Santa Lúcia and Américo Brasiliense. In the municipality of Luiz Antônio, the study area included part of the Jataí Ecological Station, one of the state’s important conservation units. The annual soil loss was estimated based on the universal soil loss equation (USLE), while sediment production and hydric balance parameters were estimated using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT – 2000). Thanks to the simultaneous application of these computational models, the methodology developed here proved effective in the environmental characterization of the study area, in the simulation of environmental scenarios, and in the identification of the most vulnerable areas, generating complementary responses. The SWAT proved sensitive to the changes in soil use scenarios and to the set of available data on the study area.

A busca de ferramentas que contribuam com a melhoria da interpretação de informações referentes aos diversos usos do solo e suas conseqüências aos corpos aquáticos é tarefa importante tendo em vista que as qualidades do solo e da água sempre afetaram a civilização humana. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo a quantificação, com enfoque de primeira aproximação, a partir de dados existentes, da erosão, da produção de sedimentos e de alguns parâmetros do ciclo hidrológico de um compartimento da bacia hidrográfica do rio Mogi-Guaçu, região central do estado de São Paulo, submetida a diferentes usos do solo. Foi construída a base de dados digital e foram delimitadas duas microbacias hidrográficas, uma sub-bacia hidrográfica, duas bacias de drenagem e duas sub-bacias de drenagem que abrangeram os municípios de Luiz Antônio, São Carlos, Rincão, Santa Lúcia e Américo Brasiliense. A área de estudo incluiu, no município de Luiz Antônio, uma parte da Estação Ecológica de Jataí, importante unidade de conservação do estado. A perda de solo anual foi estimada utilizando-se a equação universal de perda de solo (EUPS) e a produção de sedimentos e os parâmetros do balanço hídrico a partir do modelo soil and water assessment tool (SWAT – 2000). A metodologia desenvolvida, em função da aplicação desses modelos computacionais de maneira simultânea, foi eficaz na caracterização ambiental da área de estudo, na simulação de cenários ambientais e na identificação de áreas mais vulneráveis, gerando respostas complementares. O SWAT foi sensível às mudanças de cenários de uso do solo e ao conjunto de dados disponíveis relacionados à área de estudo. / The search for tools that contribute to enhance the interpretation of information about the diverse uses of soil and their consequences on aquatic bodies is an important task, since the qualities of soil and water have always affected human civilization. The goal of the present work was to quantify, by a first approximation and based on existing data, the erosion, the production of sediments and several parameters of the hydrological cycle of a compartment of the hydrographic basin of the Mogi Guaçu river situated in the central region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil and subjected to different soil uses. A digital database was constructed and two hydrographic microbasins, two drainage basins, and two drainage sub-basins were delimited, covering the municipalities of Luiz Antônio, São Carlos, Rincão, Santa Lúcia and Américo Brasiliense. In the municipality of Luiz Antônio, the study area included part of the Jataí Ecological Station, one of the state’s important conservation units. The annual soil loss was estimated based on the universal soil loss equation (USLE), while sediment production and hydric balance parameters were estimated using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT – 2000). Thanks to the simultaneous application of these computational models, the methodology developed here proved effective in the environmental characterization of the study area, in the simulation of environmental scenarios, and in the identification of the most vulnerable areas, generating complementary responses. The SWAT proved sensitive to the changes in soil use scenarios and to the set of available data on the study area.