AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (SINGERH)

Abstract

This study reports development of a computational system to determine water availability in any specific stretch along a hydrographic basin network, and quantify the impact resulting from granting new rights for water use. The system is denominated as “Integrated System for Water Resources Management” (SINGERH). To estimate water availability, three discharge regionalization methods were implemented by using the programming tool ‘Borland Delphi 7.0’. The calculation of the impact from granting new rights for water use was done by considering the discharge to be granted, based on the section-estimated discharge, granting criteria of basin management agency and the discharges granted upstream the section under analysis. These data can be obtained by consulting users’ registers available at the state and federal managing agencies. SINGERH was applied to a specific section on the Preto River belonging to the Paracatu river basin to verify the functionality and potential of the system. The system allowed determination of the minimum and average discharge along the basin, providing inputs for decision making about granting process, through estimates of water availability at any section of the hydrography. Considering the granting criteria in Minas Gerais State, the SINGERH indicated that there was no possibility for granting new water use right during the period from May to September.