Hydrographic basin, also known as drainage basin, is a portion of the earth's surface drained by a main river, streams, streams, etc. According to the National Water Resources Council (CNRH), the Brazilian territory has 12 hydrographic regions.
Occupying an area of 229.9 thousand square kilometers, which corresponds to approximately 2.7% of the Brazilian territory, the Southeast Atlantic Basin covers portions of the territories of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná.
The main rivers in this hydrographic basin are Paraíba do Sul and Doce. Other important rivers that make up this region are Itapemirim, Itabapoana, Ribeira de Iguape, São Mateus, Santa Maria, among others.
Paraíba do Sul, the longest river in the Southeast Atlantic Basin
The average flow of the Southeast Atlantic Basin corresponds to about 2.1% of the country's total. These rivers supply more than 25.5 million people, in addition to being essential for carrying out economic activities, such as agriculture and livestock and industrial production.
This region has a large population concentration and is home to a large part of Brazil's economic activities. These characteristics make the water consumption very high. The big problem is that the availability of this resource is too small to meet the high demand.
Among the environmental impacts recorded in the Southeast Atlantic Basin, we can highlight the removal of riparian vegetation, river pollution, siltation, irregular land occupation, etc.
By Wagner de Cerqueira and Francisco
Graduated in Geography
Kids School Team
