IMPACT OF LAND USE AND COVER ON GROUNDWATER QUALITY, CHALLENGES OF SCARCITY AND CONTAMINATION FOR WATER MANAGEMENT IN BRAZILIAN SEMI-ARID CITIES

INFLUÊNCIA DO USO E COBERTURA DO SOLO NA QUALIDADE DAS ÁGUAS SUBTERRÂNEAS, DESAFIOS DA ESCASSEZ E CONTAMINAÇÃO PARA GESTÃO DAS ÁGUAS EM CIDADES DO SEMIÁRIDO BRASILEIRO

INFLUENCIA DEL USO Y LA COBERTURA DEL SUELO EN LA CALIDAD DE LAS AGUAS SUBTERRÁNEAS, RETOS DE LA ESCASEZ Y LA CONTAMINACIÓN PARA LA GESTIÓN DEL AGUA EN LAS CIUDADES SEMIÁRIDAS BRASILEÑAS

Groundwater is strategic for socio-economic development, especially in semi-arid environments where, in many cases, it is the only viable resource for domestic supply and various economic sectors. In the city of Apodi, in the Brazilian semi-arid region, located in the recharge area of the Açu aquifer, groundwater is used for multiple purposes, but primarily for domestic supply. This work sought to study the relationship between the use and coverage of urban land and water quality, identifying qualitative limitations, sources, and types of contamination for water use in domestic supply. To this aim, wells and potentially contaminating sources were registered, physical and chemical parameters of water samples from 26 wells were collected and analyzed. The data were discretized using ordinary kriging, which made it possible to identify the relationship between the most consolidated urban area and nitrate contamination, which reached 34.6% of the wells analyzed. This points to the risk of qualitative scarcity of this important resource, mainly due to the lack or deficiency in the collection and treatment of domestic effluents.

Keywords:
Aquifers; Environmental Contamination; Domestic Effluents; Nitrogen Compounds