Estudo da dinâmica da saturação do solo e suas consequências no processo de escoamento superficial na Unidade Hidrográfica do Riacho Fundo

Abstract

This paper addresses a topic of great importance for planning and environmental management in areas of severe urban occupation, as the Federal District. The Riacho Fundo Hydrographic Unit stands out for its importance in the composition of the drainage system of Paranoa Lake and been suffering because of influences of urbanization, imposed by the population. Urbanization, without proper planning, acts as a constraint of the processes related to runoff, facilitating the occurrence of problems such as flood peaks in the towns, dragging of sediments into the water bodies, increased susceptibility to erosion and changes in water regime. The runoff is generated from the point at which the precipitated water has no more ability to infiltrate the soil, to seep through on this in the form of a continuous flow. The factors that accentuate the process of runoff are the removal or replacement of native vegetation cover and soil sealing by urban systems. Another important phenomenon studied in this research, and direct influence on the runoff, was the ability of soil saturation. Soils that tend to saturate more easily are more likely to lead processes related to runoff, deserving areas where they are most attention when it comes to urban planning.