SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL MAPPING AS A TOOL FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF WATER MANAGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT IN THE BRAZILIAN SEMI-ARID

Abstract

The aim of this work was to identify, through socio-environmental mapping, how water management and management occurs in rural areas of the Brazilian semi arid region. For this, the methodological course was developed in the form of a workshop with farmers in the semi-arid region of Paraíba through focus groups to build socio-environmental maps and identify risks, followed by stages of environmental awareness. Twenty-one farmers participated, most of them male and aged between 16 and 60 years. Eight sources of water used by the participants were identified, highlighting rainwater and water from water trucks, stored in cisterns, as the most frequent. Water from water trucks and mud pits was identified as having the highest risk of spreading disease. Three water management and management models were categorized considering sustainability and dependence on supply from sources of well-being: (i) independent sustainable management (10%), (ii) dependent sustainable management (50%), (iii) simplified management no sustainable basis (40 %). Considering the group under study, 90% of the participants are somehow dependent on policies to combat/coexist with drought in their daily lives, however, it is noted that the development and implementation of social technologies for water storage in rural areas of the semiarid region, are presented as an important strategy for overcoming poverty, guaranteeing food security and sustainable coexistence/climate adaptation.