ENVIRONMENTAL ZONING APPLIED TO SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

The environmental zoning for soil and water conservation provides useful information about land use and management. Thus, this study proposes (i) an environmental zoning, based on the combination of Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), soil loss tolerance (T) estimates adapted to Brazilian soils and environmental legislation; and (ii) qualitative-quantitative monitoring of water resources using Total Maximum Daily Load curves (TMDLs). The study area was the Ribeirao Salobra Basin (Terenos, MS, Brazil), located in the transition between the biomes Cerrado and Pantanal. Several information plans were crossed resulting in the division of the total area into five zones with different land use profiles, determined according to the conservation and preservation of native vegetation, occurrence of wet areas and springs, adequate land use and eroded area recovery. In a next step, the TMDL curves were obtained from duration curves and water quality standards. In about 6% of the study area, soil losses exceeded the threshold, defining areas of priority to be recovered in the focus of environmental planning. The proposed methodology was suited for the determination of specific land use zones, as well as the identification of conservation priorities and irregularities. Furthermore, the TMDL curves indicate critical conditions of water bodies and represent an alternative tool for water monitoring.