03804nam a2200145 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000200006024501630008026000730024352032800031665300210359665300210361765300200363819542252018-08-23       2012    bl uuuu      00u1 u    #d1 aGOMES, M. A. F.  aAgricultural use of the Guarani Aquifer recharge areas in Brazilbimplications for groundwater and proposed agri-environmental schemes.h[electronic resource]  aBrasília, DF: Embrapa, 2012. 294 p. 1 e-book no formato epub.c2012  aIn Brazil, concern about groundwater started to become more evident only a little over a decade ago, because the prevailing belief had been that there was plenty of surface water. Today, however, there is an awareness among the population of Brazil that groundwater in the country is also exposed to risk of degradation, in both quantitative and qualitative terms. Based on this apprehension on the part of the population in relation to groundwater, Embrapa Environment in 1994 began its work in the outcrop or direct recharge areas of the largest and most important aquifer of the Americas and one of the largest in the world ? the Guarani Aquifer. From the standpoint of exposure, this aquifer is divided into confined and unconfined portions. In the first case, due to significant rock covering, it is protected for all practical purposes from possible anthropogenic polluting activities; in the second case, there is no rocky surface to protect it, exposing it directly to contamination risk. This part of the aquifer, which is known as the outcrop zone or direct recharge area, and which is composed exclusively of sandy soils, especially medium textured Quartzarenic Neosols [US: Quartzipsamments] and Latosols [US: Oxisols], thus requires special attention, particularly with regard to its use, to avoid possible adverse impacts which could compromise its water quality. Against this backdrop of high natural vulnerability and risk, coupled with a broad effort conducted by researchers at Embrapa Environment to identify agricultural uses of Guarani Aquifer recharge areas in Brazil, various projects have been developed to examine some potentially critical areas, which have been used to provide the information in this book, in Part 2 (Agricultural use of the Guarani Aquifer recharge areas in Brazil and impacts on groundwater quality) and Part 3 (Agri-environmental schemes for the Guarani Aquifer recharge areas in Brazil). First, however, in Part 1 (Groundwater in Brazil: The Guarani Aquifer), the reader is presented with the characteristics and potential of this aquifer relating to its supply capacity and certain mechanisms impacting its water quality, based on reference information provided by hydrogeology professionals. In view of the exposed nature of the Guarani Aquifer and the great diversity of agricultural uses in its outcrop areas in Brazil, this research work presents some current scenarios, along with some proposed agricultural use and management alternatives for some of them, using as a case study three regions located in four states: the Espraiado Creek Watershed, located in Ribeirão Preto in the State of São Paulo (SP); the Headwaters of the Araguaia River, located in the Municipality of Mineiros in the State of Goiás (GO) and in the Municipality of Alto Taquari in the State of Mato Grosso (MT); and the Watershed of Jacaguá Brook, located in the Alegrete region in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS). For the first two regions, agri-environmental schemes are also proposed, in Part 3 of this book, along with procedures to support the sustainability of these areas and, thus, of the Guarani Aquifer itself, since these procedures can be applied, with the appropriate adjustments, to the aquifer?s other outcrop areas as well.  aAgricultural use  aAquifer recharge  aGuarani Aquifer