Watershed or drainage basin is a portion of the earth's surface drained by a main river, its tributaries and sub- tributaries.
Brazil is a country with a large number of rivers. According to the National Water Resources Council (CNRH), the national territory has 12 large hydrographic regions.
One of them is the East Atlantic Basin, present in the states of Sergipe, Bahia, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. This basin has an extension of approximately 374.7 thousand square kilometers, which corresponds to 4% of the total area of Brazil.
Paraguaçu River - Bahia
The average flow of this basin is estimated at 1,400.43 m³/s, corresponding to about 1% of the country's total. The main rivers are the Pardo, Salinas, Paraguaçu, Jequitinhonha, Vaza-Barris, Rio de Contas, supplying more than 520 municipalities and a population of 14 million people.
This hydrographic region has a wide variety of biomes, with emphasis on the Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, Cerrado, as well as mangroves and coastal vegetation.
Human occupation and the carrying out of economic activities have caused several socio-environmental problems. Livestock and mining are the main villains in this process. The chemicals used in these activities are mainly responsible for the pollution of the rivers of the East Atlantic Basin.
By Wagner de Cerqueira and Francisco
Graduated in Geography
Kids School Team
