Master of Arts / Department of History / Charles W. Sanders / On June 3, 1825, William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and eleven representatives of the “Kanzas” nation signed a treaty ceding their lands to the United States. The first to sign was “Nom-pa-wa-rah,” the overall Kansa leader, better known as White Plume. His participation illustrated the racial chasm that had opened between Native- and Anglo- American worlds. The treaty was designed to ease pressures of proximity in Missouri and relocate multiple nations West of the Mississippi, where they believed they would finally be beyond the American lust for land. White Plume knew different. Through experience with U.S. Indian policy, he understood that land cessions only restarted a cycle of events culminating in more land cessions. His identity as a mixed-blood, by virtue of the Indian-white ancestry of many of his family, opened opportunities for that experience. Thus, he attempted in 1825 to use U.S. laws and relationships with officials such as William Clark to protect the future of the Kansa. The treaty was a cession of land to satisfy conflicts, but also a guarantee of reserved land, and significantly, of a “halfbreed” tract for mixed-blood members of the Kansa Nation. Mixed-blood go-betweens stood for a final few moments astride a widening chasm between Anglo-American and native worlds. It was a space that less than a century before offered numerous opportunities for mixed-blood people to thrive as intermediaries, brokers, traders, and diplomats. They appeared, albeit subtly, in interactions wherever white and Native worlds overlapped. As American Indians lost their economic viability and eventually their land, that overlap disappeared. White Plume’s negotiation of a reserve for his descendants is telling of a group left without a place. In bridging the two worlds, mixed-bloods became a group that by the mid-nineteenth century was defined as “other” by Anglo-American and Indians alike. This study is the first to track these evolving racial constructs and roles over both time and place. Previous studies have examined mixed-blood roles, but their identity is portrayed as static. This study contends that their roles changed with the proximity and viability of full-blood communities with which white officials had to negotiate.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Stacy L. Hutchinson and Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin / Ecohydrology, a sub-discipline of hydrology, deals with the ecological impacts of and interactions with the hydrological cycle. Changes in hydrology of the Great Plains rivers, and their impacts on water quality, water resources, aquatic ecosystems, and fish species distributions have been documented. The major goal of this study was to develop and test methods to analyze watershed-level ecohydrological characteristics. The specific objectives were (a) to detect past temporal trends and spatial variability in hydrologic indices, (b) to evaluate the presence and/or extent of spatial and temporal relationships between climatic and ecohydrological variables and riverine historical data on fauna species density and distribution, and (c) to assess model calibration strategies for accurate ecohydrological indicator simulation. The Kansa River Basin (KRB), which has substantial land use, soil and climate variability, as well as variation in anthropogenic drivers (dams, diversions, reservoirs, etc.), was the focus of this study. Thirty eight hydrological indicators were generated using the indicators of hydrologic alterations software for 34 stations in the KRB using 50-year streamflow records and trend analysis using Mann-Kendall, Seasonal Kendall, and Sen’s slope estimator tests. Across the KRB a decreasing trend was evident for annual mean runoff, summer and autumn mean runoff, 30-day, 90-day minimum flows, and 1-day, 3-day, 7-day, 30-day and 90-day maximum flows. Most of the significant negative trends were observed in the High Plains ecoregion. Two hydrologic indicators, high-flow pulse count and mean summer streamflow, were significantly different in streams that lost two indicator fish species, indicating that changes in streamflow have altered the fish habitat of this region. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) biophysical model calibrated using a multi-objective framework (multi-site, multivariable and multi-criteria) was able to simulate most of the ecohydrological indicators at different hydrological conditions and scales. The SWAT model provided robust performance in simulating high-flow-rate ecohydrologic indicators. However ecohydrologic indicators performance was highly dependent on the level of calibration and parameterization. The effect of calibration and parameterization on ecohydrologic indicators performance varied between watersheds and among subwatersheds.

Water is a basic human necessity and water resources are becoming scarce, limited and in some cases expensive. The SADC region is a very dry and semi-arid region, which places pressure on the region’s water resources and security. Water is a key ingredient for SADC to achieve their regional goals and water security should receive high priority in this region. As SADC’s economic development will be defined by the availability of water it is important to define ‘water security’ for this region. SADC has a large number of shared water resources and the scarcity of water has fostered cooperation between the member states. Achieving water security will rely on the legal instruments that are available to the SADC region. These legal instruments focus on cooperation, integration and management of transboundary rivers. In this dissertation various international, regional and legal instruments were discussed in terms of the definition for ‘water security’ in the SADC region. This dissertation does not only focus on the legal framework for water security but also where this normative framework failed to address the elements of water security. Two case studies will be done on transboundary rivers (Limpopo and Okavango River) to illustrate how cooperation and agreements between countries could lead to ensuring a water secure region. RBO’s are at the core of IWRM and the governance of transboundary rivers will rely on the commitment to the agreements between these countries. OKACOM and LIMCOM are both discussed in terms of their legal frameworks as well as measured against the main elements of water security. This study will thus, by examining the definition of water security and applying it to the legal framework provided for by SADC, establish whether SADC’s normative framework effectively provides for water security. The case studies will provide a practical example of wherethe RBO’s have utilised the normative framework provided, and whether RBO’s facilitate or enable water security in this region. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Water is a basic human necessity and water resources are becoming scarce, limited and in some cases expensive. The SADC region is a very dry and semi-arid region, which places pressure on the region’s water resources and security. Water is a key ingredient for SADC to achieve their regional goals and water security should receive high priority in this region. As SADC’s economic development will be defined by the availability of water it is important to define ‘water security’ for this region. SADC has a large number of shared water resources and the scarcity of water has fostered cooperation between the member states. Achieving water security will rely on the legal instruments that are available to the SADC region. These legal instruments focus on cooperation, integration and management of transboundary rivers. In this dissertation various international, regional and legal instruments were discussed in terms of the definition for ‘water security’ in the SADC region. This dissertation does not only focus on the legal framework for water security but also where this normative framework failed to address the elements of water security. Two case studies will be done on transboundary rivers (Limpopo and Okavango River) to illustrate how cooperation and agreements between countries could lead to ensuring a water secure region. RBO’s are at the core of IWRM and the governance of transboundary rivers will rely on the commitment to the agreements between these countries. OKACOM and LIMCOM are both discussed in terms of their legal frameworks as well as measured against the main elements of water security. This study will thus, by examining the definition of water security and applying it to the legal framework provided for by SADC, establish whether SADC’s normative framework effectively provides for water security. The case studies will provide a practical example of wherethe RBO’s have utilised the normative framework provided, and whether RBO’s facilitate or enable water security in this region. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This dissertation identifies and explores the dilemma of regional governance, namely how to address political and economic challenges which occur at the meso-, as opposed to local, national, or international scale. Drawing on a large body of theoretical work on decentralization and federalism, this dissertation addresses the question, how do different institutional arrangements for political, fiscal, and administrative decentralization influence the capacity of political systems to capture regional-scale externalities? It does so by examining the responses of four different political systems, two federal and two unitary, to the problem of capturing economic externalities through River Basin Management (RBM), a quintessential regional issue. RBM outcomes are operationalized in terms of efficacy of capture of both water quality and quantity externalities which occur within inter-jurisdictional river basins. Through close historical analysis of six paired case studies across the four country cases, the dissertation argues that the capacity of political systems to capture regional-scale externalities depends on the ability of sub-national jurisdictions to pursue localized preferences, which is in this dissertation referred to as sub-national territorial politics. These politics are most prevalent in federal systems, which typically accord sub-national territorial jurisdictions with greater political power and fiscal resources. These political systems feature fewer and weaker regional governance institutions, and generally less effective regional-scale externality capture, than their counterparts. This dissertation contributes to a growing "sub-national turn" in comparative politics in two ways. First, it identifies the geographically-rooted interests which often shape sub-national actor preferences, particularly with respect to natural resource issues. Second, the dissertation discerns the lack of political incentives for central governments to resolve disputes between sub-national administrative jurisdictions, particularly in the federal systems in which these units are the basis for political representation at the national level.

This paper deals with the rainfall-runoff regime in the Stropnice river-basin and its development. The aim of this paper is to answer the question of‚were there any changes in the runoff regime during the period 1945 - 2009, and if so, were these changes conditioned by climate or were they caused by human interventions' (e. g. river network modification, changes of the land cover, drainage systems development etc.). The single-mass and double- mass curves were used as the primary methodology. The homogeneity of the time series of mean discharge, precipitation and air temperature were statistically tested using Mann-Whitney-Pettit test and Mann-Whitney test. The Mann-Whitney-Pettit test was performed using the programme AnClim (v5.012), which is freely available online, the Mann-Whitney test was performed using SPSS 15.0. Non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was used for the trend detection, performed in MULTMK/PARTMK by C. Libiseller and A. Grimvall, also freely available online. Some changes in the runoff regime were uncovered in the early 80s', when the runoff decreased, which also happened after 1988. During these periods almost no annual flood occured. The first decrease of the runoff was caused by a drier season in the 80s'. The second decrease after 1988 was probably caused by a build-up of the...

O gerenciamento de recursos hídricos se propõe a resolver os problemas resultantes do uso intensivo da água, produto do crescimento econômico e populacional, e preservar as funções hidrológicas, biológicas e químicas dos ecossistemas, assim como garantir que esse recurso se mantenha com oferta adequada. No Brasil, país cujas dimensões são continentais, o controle dos cursos de água frequentemente acaba não englobando todas as regiões de interesse de um estudo. Conhecida esta carência, a técnica conhecida como Regionalização Hidrológica aparece como uma opção para a obtenção de informações hidrológicas em regiões sem ou com poucos dados, fundamentando-se na similaridade espacial de algumas funções, variáveis e parâmetros que toleram essa transferência. Diante dos diversos modelos de regionalização desenvolvidos e da necessidade de obtenção das informações hidrológicas de forma facilitada, é fundamental o estudo comparativo de metodologias de regionalização de vazões com o objetivo de se conhecer a mais adequada às características regionais de cada bacia hidrográfica. Neste sentido, o objetivo geral deste trabalho foi avaliar as estimativas da vazão de referência Q7,10 e também das vazões mínimas de permanência na bacia do Rio Jaguari (divisa dos estados de Minas Gerais e São Paulo e importante afluente do Sistema Cantareira) obtidas por diferentes técnicas de regionalização, quais sejam, os métodos propostos por Liazi et al. (1988) e Wolff et al. (2014) para o Estado de São Paulo e o IGAM (2012) para o Estado de Minas Gerais. O estudo foi realizado na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Jaguari, a qual localiza-se entre os estados supracitados. A partir dos dados históricos de vazão das estações presentes nesta Bacia Hidrográfica foram calculadas a Qmed, Q90, Q95 e Q7,10 referente a cada uma das cinco estações fluviométricas estudadas. Em seguida, estas mesmas variáveis foram estimadas utilizando as metodologias de regionalização propostas por Liazi et al. (1988), Wolff et al. (2014) e IGAM (2012). A fim de se definir qual o método de regionalização hidrológica mais adequado para a região do alto do Rio Jaguari, os resultados das vazões calculadas por intermédio das séries históricas colhidas por estações fluviométricas foram comparadas com as estimadas pelos modelos suprecitados mediante análise de índices estatísticos, tais como, índice de concordância (d), teste de eficiência de Nash-Sutcliffe (NSE), viés percentual (PBIAS), razão entre o erro médio quadrático e o desvio padrão dos dados observados (RSR) e o coeficiente de determinação (R2). O modelo de Liazi et al. (1988) apresentou ajuste, classificado pelo índice de concordância (d), teste de eficiência de Nash-Sutcliffe (NSE) e o coeficiente de determinação (R2), como muito bom, mostrando-se superior aos demais métodos nessa região. A metodologia de IGAM (2012) demonstrou ajuste insatisfatório para os indicadores estatísticos NSE, PBIAS e índice d e muito bom para o coeficiente de determinação (R2). A nova proposta de Regionalização Hidrológica para o estado de São Paulo de Wolff et al. (2014) apresentou ajuste, classificado pelos índices de concordância (d), teste de eficiência de Nash-Sutcliffe (NSE), viés percentual (PBIAS) e coeficiente de determinação (R2), como, no geral, insatisfatório; por outro lado o comportamento gráfico dos resultados obtidos demonstrou potencialidade para o uso desse método. Recomenda-se a aplicação de estudos comparativos semelhantes em outras Sub- Bacias localizadas entre os estados de Minas Gerais e São Paulo para corroborar ou não com as conclusões do presente trabalho. / Water resources management is meant to solve problems caused by the intensive use of this resource, which is the product of economic and population growth. Water resources management is also responsable for preserving the hydrological, biological and chemical functions of ecosystems, as well as ensure that this resource is maintained with the adequate supply for future generations. In Brazil, a country with continental dimensions, streamflow gauge coverage is far from satisfactory. Therefore, the Hydrological Regionalization technique is as an option to estimate hydrological information in regions with few or no data. This methodology is based on the spatial similarity of functions, variables and parameters that tolerate this transference. The number of regionalization models and the need to easily access hydrological data transformed comparative studies of streamflow regionalization methodologies into a fundamental topic in Hydrology. For this reason, the was the goal of this paper is to assess the models settled by Liazi et al. (1988), Wolff et al. (2014) and IGAM (2012) related to the variables Q7,10, Q90, Q95 and Qmed in Jaguari River Basin, which is located between Minas Gerais and São Paulo states and constitutes an important affluent to the Cantareira System. Firstly, the Q7,10, Q90, Q95 and Qmed were calculated using the historical flow data from five fluviometric stations located in Jagari River Basin. Then, these same variables were estimated using the regionalization methodologies proposed by Liazi et al. (1988), Wolff et al. (2014) and IGAM (2012). In order to determine the best hydrological regionalization method for the upper Jaguari River Basin, the flow rates results calculated with the historical series were compared to those estimated by the models. The forecast was determined utilizing the following indicators: index of agreement (d), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), percent bias (PBIAS), the ratio of the root mean square error to the standard deviation of measured data (RSR) and coefficient of determination (R2). Liazi et al. (1988) presented the best performance when compared to the other two methods, its behavior was classified as very good by the index of agreement (d), the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and the coefficient of determination (R2). IGAM (2012) exhibited an unsatisfactory fit for the statistical indicators of NSE and PBIAS. On the other hand, this method was classified as very good when the coefficient of determination (R2) was analyzed. The new proposal of Hydrological Regionalization for São Paulo state (WOLFF et al., 2014) presented an adjustment, classified by the index of agreement (d), the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), the percentage bias (PBIAS) and coefficient of determination (R2), as unsatisfactory, in general. The graphical behavior, however, demonstrated a good potential for future use. In conclusion, it is recommended to apply similar comparative studies in other sub-basins located between the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo to corroborate or not with the presented results.

Thesis title: Legal regulation of watercourse protection Abstract Watercourses are the most important form of surface water occurrence in the Czech Republic, and therefore their condition also significantly affects the overall state of all our aquatic ecosystems. Despite of it, the ecological and chemical status of watercourses is still not satisfying. This fact requires an increase in the efficiency and complexity of their legal protection, which is the subject of this thesis. The aim of the first part of this thesis is to describe the national legal regulation of watercourses protection in the context of European and international law. At present, national and international legislation is significantly influenced by European legislation provided by the Water Framework Directive. The first part pays attention to the instruments of national legislation, that are relevant to the second part of the work. The first aim of the second part of this thesis is to analyse the basic measures proposed in the two selected sub-basins in order to achieve the objectives of the Water Framework Directive, particularly the good water status. Following this analysis, the second aim is to find out what specific instruments the current legislation provides for the realization of the proposed measures and whether these...

O crescente desenvolvimento mundial, principalmente dos países emergentes, tem exercido enorme pressão sobre o meio ambiente. Diversas regiões começam a indicar perda da sustentabilidade. O uso responsável dos recursos naturais envolve uma equação que considera o desenvolvimento sustentável. Este campo do conhecimento é muito amplo e envolve um grande número de variáveis, que requerem o uso de conhecimento, hardware/software e de metodologia específica. SIGs - Sistemas de Informações Geográficas e análise de múltiplos critérios são ferramentas úteis em processos de tomada de decisão envolvendo dados ambientais espacializados. Este trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver um sistema de informação analítico, denominado FGest, para ser usado no planejamento ambiental de bacias hidrográficas, durante a fase de avaliação, em processos de tomada de decisão. O ambiente e linguagem de programação para o desenvolvimento do FGest e das interfaces de comunicação com os Sistemas de Informações Geográficas foi o Microsoft C#. Para o processo de comunicação entre os softwares envolvidos foi adotado o uso de mapas matriciais no formato ASCII. Dentre os algoritmos do FGest destaca-se o de otimização do processo de ranqueamento de critérios segundo a influência dos mesmos no processo decisório. Fase importante do desenvolvimento de um software é a validação do mesmo através da análise e comparação de seus resultados. Para a validação do FGest, utilizando avaliação multicritérios, foram gerados mapas de áreas prioritárias à restauração florestal na bacia hidrográfica do rio Corumbataí, SP, visando à conservação de recursos hídricos. Os fatores empregados, na forma de mapas matriciais, foram a adequação do uso da terra, a erodibilidade do solo, a erosividade da chuva e as proximidades à malha viária e à rede hidrográfica, todos padronizados em uma escala única e contínua de 256 valores. Os pesos dos fatores foram determinados com auxílio de uma matriz de comparação pareada. Com ótimos tempos de resposta, foram gerados três mapas de áreas prioritárias, com valores no espaço de 256 níveis e depois reclassificados de maneira a apresentar cinco graus de prioridade (muito alta, alta, média, baixa e muito baixa), correspondentes às aplicações dos métodos da Combinação Linear Ponderada e da Média Ponderada Ordenada para os cenários riscos médio/baixo e médio/alto. A partir dos resultados obtidos foi possível concluir que o FGest pode ser utilizado como suporte ao planejamento e gestão de bacias hidrográficas, já que o mesmo desempenhou com sucesso o papel de ferramenta computacional para avaliação multicritérios e que sua interface de comunicação com os Sistemas de Informações Geográficas ArcGIS e Spring funcionou adequadamente para importação de mapas fatores e restrições e para exportação de mapas gerados nas avaliações multicritérios. / The increasing worldwide development, mainly due to the developing countries, makes a significant pressure on the environment. Several regions are now showing a loss of sustainability. The responsible use of the natural resources involves an equation which considers the sustainable development. This field of knowledge is very wide and involves a great number of variables, which require expertise, hardware/software and specific methodology. GIS Geographic Information System and multicriteria evaluation are useful tools in the decision support processes, involving spatial environmental data. The objective of this study was the development of an analytical information system named FGest, to be used on the environmental planning of watersheds, during the phase of evaluation, in the decision-making process. The Microsoft C# was used as the environment and the programming language for the development of the FGest and of the communication interfaces with the Geographic Information Systems. For the process of communication between FGest and Geographic Information Systems, the use of raster maps in ASCII format was implemented. Amongst the algorithms of the FGest is the algorithm for ranking of criteria, in accordance with the influence of the same ones in the decision process. An important phase of the software development is its test and validation through the analysis and comparison of its results. For the validation of the FGest, using multicriteria evaluation, maps of priority areas for forest restoration, in the Corumbataí river basin, State of São Paulo, aiming at the conservation of water resources were generated, . The variables used, in the format of raster maps, were the land-use adequacy, soil erodibility, erosivity, proximity to roads and proximity to the drainage network, where each factor was standardized in a 256-value continuous scale. The factors weights were determined with help of a pairwise comparison matrix. Three maps of priority areas were generated, with levels of priority represented on a continuous way, from 0 to 255, and later reclassified to show five levels of priority (very high, high, medium, low and very low). Those maps are the result of the application of the methods of the Weighted Linear Combination and the Ordered Weighted Average for the scenarios of medium/low and medium/high risks. From the obtained results it was possible to conclude that the FGest can be used as a support for planning and management of river basins, since the system successfully carried out the role of computational tool for multicriteria evaluation and its communication interface with the Geographic Information Systems ArcGIS and Spring had an adequate performance to import factors and restrictions maps and to export maps generated in the multicriteria evaluations.

A região de montante do rio Mogi-Guaçu é considerada estratégica quanto à questão hídrica, com centenas de nascentes que contribuem para a formação de córregos e ribeirões e que viabilizam os usos múltiplos da água em cidades localizadas nos Estados de Minas Gerais e São Paulo. Considerando esse aspecto, procurou-se realizar um diagnóstico ambiental (entre 2005 e 2007) nos limites administrativos do município de Bom Repouso/MG por meio da análise do uso e ocupação do solo, de aspectos sociais, sanitários (saúde pública) e turísticos, com enfoque voltado às 759 áreas de nascentes catalogadas (em uso), trechos de córregos e matas ciliares que compõem o trajeto até as propriedades agrícolas e seus respectivos usuários (1509 na zona rural e 452 na cidade). Os principais resultados demonstram a existência de 468 nascentes pontuais (aflorando em topos de morros ou encostas) e 291 difusas (localizadas em áreas de planícies, formando alagados), além de elevada quantidade de água nas três microbacias (78,78% dos usuários possuem pelo menos 01 nascente que abastece de 01 a 02 famílias). No entanto, nas demais nascentes a relação é invertida, com uma relação usuários/nascentes de 06 a 109 famílias. A ocupação do solo, em sua maioria, é intercalada por agricultura/monocultura, campo/pastagem e vegetação natural na faixa de 50 m de raio em relação às áreas de nascentes e 30 m de faixa de vegetação em relação aos córregos. Nas microbacias avaliadas as nascentes e córregos são para uso doméstico e irrigação, respectivamente. As áreas de nascentes preservadas (com até 70% de presença de vegetação) são predominantementes do tipo pontual, localizando-se em áreas isoladas e de difícil acesso. As áreas de nascentes consideradas perturbadas (com 50 - 70% de presença de vegetação, mas em bom estado de conservação) e degradadas (menos de 50% de presença de vegetação, áreas compactadas e com processos erosivos instalados) são geralmente difusas, com uso da pecuária (pastagem) e com acesso livre para dessedentação dos animais. A disposição de dejetos (49,41%) ocorre via tubulação de PVC direto para o trecho de córrego mais próximo às residências, além de fossas negras (38,47%) e fossa séptica com sumidouro (7,77%). Além do diagnóstico local, foram realizados ensaios de replicabilidade para mobilização e intervenção nos municípios lindeiros a partir de desenvolvimento da metodologia simplificada de caracterização ambiental nos municípios de Senador Amaral (10 áreas) e Monte Sião (14 áreas), além da capacitação e difusão de informações junto aos multiplicadores das comunidades dos referidos municípios e em Tócos do Moji e Bom Repouso. Os resultados da pesquisa culminaram em diretrizes para a elaboração do plano de adequação ambiental com ações similares e prioritárias de preservação e recuperação em escala de curto, médio e longo prazo, tendo como base os fatores de degradação identificados em áreas diferenciadas da região, bem como a necessidade de um planejamento mais adequado, favorecendo os usos múltiplos e reduzindo os conflitos já existentes e aqueles potenciais. / The upstream region of the river Mogi Guaçu is considered strategic regarding the water issue, with hundreds of springs that contribute to the formation of brooks and streams and which enable the multiple uses of water in cities located in the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Considering this, we tried to carry out an environmental diagnostic (between 2005 and 2007) in the administrative boundaries of the city of Bom Repouso/MG by analyzing the use and occupation of land, social, sanitary (public health) and tourism aspects, to focus on the 759 areas of cataloged springs (in use), stretches of streams and gallery forests which make up the pathway to the farms and their respective users (1509 in the rural zone and 452 in the city). The main results show the existence of 468 punctual springs (emerging on top of hills or slopes) and 291 diffuse ones (located in areas of plains, forming wetlands), besides the high amount of water in the three microbasins (78.78% of users have at least 01 spring that supplies 01 to 02 families). However, at the other springs the relationship is reversed, with a users/springs relation of 06 to 109 families. The occupation of the land, is mostly interspersed with agriculture/monoculture, field/pasture and natural vegetation belt of 50 meter radius in relation to areas of springs and 30 meters of vegetation belt in relation to streams. In the evaluated microbasins the springs and streams are for domestic use and irrigation, respectively. The areas of preserved springs (with up to 70% vegetation presence) are predominantly the punctual type, located in isolated areas and difficult to access. The areas considered of disturbed springs (with 50 to 70% of vegetation presence, but in a good state of preservation) and degraded (less than 50% of vegetation presence, compacted areas and with installed erosion processes) are usually diffuse, with use of livestock (pasture) and with free access to quench the thirst of animals. The disposal of waste (49.41%) occurs via PVC pipeline direct to the stream stretch closest to the dwellings, black tanks (38.47%) and septic tanks with drain (7.77%). Besides the local diagnosis, replicability tests were performed for mobilization and action in nearby cities from development of the simplified methodology of environmental characterization in the municipalities of Senador Amaral (10 areas) and Monte Sião (14 areas), in addition to training and dissemination of information to the members/multipliers of these communities and in the municipalities of Tocos do Moji and Bom Repouso. The research results led to guidelines for drawing up the environmental adequation plan with similar and priority actions of preservation and recovery in short, medium and long terms, based on the factors of degradation identified in different areas of the region, as well as the need for better planning, promoting the multiple uses and reducing the already existing conflicts and the potential ones.