Qualitative management of water resources. Proposed methodology for planning a stations network for monitoring the quality of surface water. Case study: basin Muriaé River.

ABSTRACT

Among the premises for planning a water quality monitoring network is understanding of the regional geographic, hydrological and economic conditions. In this context, this article describes the planning of a water quality monitoring network for the Muriaé River Basin, so that based on the technical criteria adopted, the positioning of the stations meets the monitoring needs. The Muriaé River, a tributary on the left bank of the Paraíba do Sul River, has a watershed of 8,161 km². The leading economic activities in this area are manufacturing, concentrated in two industrial clusters in the municipalities of Muriaé (Minas Gerais state) and Itaperuna (Rio de Janeiro state), and agriculture, mainly along the Gavião River and near the discharge of the basin. Regarding hydropower generation, there are no power plants with inundated areas greater than 3 km2, the lower threshold for required monitoring according to Resolution 003/2010 issued jointly by the National Water Agency and National Electric Energy Agency. Finally, monitoring points were projected following the criteria for control or strategic points, reference points, impact points and potential power generation points. A Water Quality Index (WQI) was calculated to identify the points with water stress in the basin. The scales defined were hydrography of 1:250,000, Otto codification at level 6 and distribution of discharge of organic waste by urban districts. The results indicate that the location of the stations tends to approximate the potential points of pollution in the basin.

Keywords:
Hydrological monitoring; Hidrometry; Water quality; hydrology