Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Maintenance of water resources protection practice for water availability, uninterrupted water utilization, and for ecosystem integrity is critical for sustainable achievement of resource security for all. Therefore, operationalization of water resource protection strategies such as resource directed measures, especially at catchment level where water resources utilization takes place is critical. The main aim of the current study was to develop a citizen science framework for operationalization of resource directed measures at catchment level. Such a framework used a nexus approach, and its development was guided by the principles of socio-ecological model from a systems thinking perspective. This demonstrated importance of resource directed measures which are accepted as relevant policy implementation strategies towards improved and integrated water resources management practice at catchment level, where local citizens become part of such practice.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:03:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LeandroGD_DISSERT_capa_ate_pag133.pdf: 6716580 bytes, checksum: 9476462cb57b9fdec724012a32494896 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-02 / One of the most important natural resources for sustaining human life, water, has been losing the basic requirements of quality and quantity sufficient enough to attend the population due to water contamination'problems, often caused by human beings themselves. Because of this, the sources of this resource are often located in remote places of the natural environment to ensure the quality of the water. However, when urban expansion began to occupy these areas, which were once regarded as distant, environmental pollution problems began to occur due to occupation of the land without planning. Based on this occurrence, this study aims to propose environmental zoning for the Maxaranguape river watershed in order to protect its water resources. This is important because this river can serve as a source of supply for the metropolitan area of Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte. In accordance to this proposition, the model of natural soil loss vulnerability (CREPANI et al., 2001), the model of aquifer pollution vulnerability (FOSTER et al., 2006), and the legal incompatibility map (CREPANI et al., 2001) were used to delimit the zones. All this was done with Geographic Information System (GIS) and also created a geographic database update of the basin. The results of the first model mentioned indicated that 63.67% of the basin was classified as moderately stable / vulnerable, 35.66% as moderately vulnerable, and 0.67% as vulnerable. The areas with high vulnerability degree correspond with sand dunes and river channels areas. The second model indicated that 2.84% of the basin has low vulnerability, 70.27%) has median vulnerability, and 26.76% and 0.13% has high vulnerability and extreme vulnerability, respectively. The areas with the highest vulnerability values also refer to part of the sand dunes and river channels besides other areas such as Pureza urban area. The legal incompatibility map indicated that the basin has 85.02 km2 of Permanent Protection Area (PPA) and 14.62% of this area has some incongruity of use. Based on these results it was possible to draw three main zones: Protection and Sustainable Use Zone (PSUZ), Protection and Environmental Restoration Zone (PERZ) and Environmental Control Zone, which are divided into A, B and C. The PSUZ refer to the coastal areas of the basin, where the sand dunes are located. These sites should be areas of environmental protection and of sustainable urban expansion. The ZPRA refer to river channels, which are in high need of rehabilitation. The third zone corresponds to the rest of the basin which should have, in general, the mapping of possible sources of contamination for further control on the use and occupation of the river / Um dos recursos naturais mais importantes para a sustenta??o da vida humana, a ?gua vem perdendo os requisitos b?sicos de qualidade e quantidade suficientes para atender a popula??o devido aos problemas de contamina??o h?drica causados, muitas vezes, pelos pr?prios seres humanos. Todavia, as fontes desses recursos h?dricos geralmente est?o localizadas em lugares distantes, onde as condi??es naturais do meio ambiente ainda asseguram a qualidade dos recursos. Por?m, quando a expans?o urbana come?a a atingir essas ?reas, antigamente tidas como distantes, problemas de polui??o ambiental s?o gerados devido ? ocupa??o do solo feita de forma n?o planejada. Com base nisso, este estudo objetiva propor um zoneamento ambiental da bacia hidrogr?fica do rio Maxaranguape, visando a prote??o de seus recursos h?dricos, uma vez que eles poder?o servir como fonte de abastecimento ? regi?o metropolitana de Natal, capital do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Dessa forma, utilizaram-se os resultados obtidos nos modelos de vulnerabilidade ? perda natural do solo (CREPANI et al., 2001) e de vulnerabilidade do aqu?fero ? contamina??o (FOSTER et al., 2006), juntos com a carta de incompatibilidade legal (CREPANI et al., 2001) para realiza??o do zoneamento ambiental. Tudo isso foi feito em Sistema de Informa??o Geogr?fica (SIG) e ainda foi criado um banco de dados geogr?ficos atualizados da bacia. Os resultados do primeiro modelo citado indicaram que 63,67% da bacia foram classificados como medianamente est?veis/vulner?veis, 35,66% como moderadamente vulner?veis e 0,67% como vulner?vel. As ?reas pertencentes ?s classes mais vulner?veis correspondem principalmente ?s ?reas de dunas e dos canais fluviais. O segundo modelo indicou que 2,84% da bacia possuem vulnerabilidade baixa, 70,27% vulnerabilidade m?dia, 26,76% vulnerabilidade alta e 0,13% vulnerabilidade extrema. As ?reas com os mais altos valores de vulnerabilidade correspondem tamb?m ? parte de dunas e dos canais fluviais, al?m de outras ?reas como a zona urbana da cidade de Pureza. A carta de incompatibilidade legal indicou que a bacia possui 85,02 km2 de ?rea de Preserva??o Permanente (APP), sendo que 14,62% dessa ?rea possuem alguma incongru?ncia de uso. Com base nesses resultados, foi poss?vel tra?ar tr?s zonas principais: Zona de Prote??o e Uso Sustent?vel (ZPUS), Zona de Prote??o e Recupera??o Ambiental (ZPRA) e Zona de Controle Ambiental, que foi dividida em A, B e C (ZCAA, ZCAB, ZCAC). A ZPUS refere-se ?s ?reas mais pr?ximas do litoral da bacia, onde tamb?m ficam as dunas, e aconselhou-se que sejam criados locais de prote??o ambiental e de expans?o urbana sustent?vel. A ZPRA corresponde aos canais fluviais e foi recomendada a recupera??o dessas ?reas. A terceira zona corresponde ao restante da bacia e recomendou-se, no geral, o mapeamento detalhado das poss?veis fontes de contamina??o para posterior controle no uso e na ocupa??o do solo