Amazonian Hydrographic Region
THE STATE OF THE AMAZON HAS 5,957 NATURAL RESERVOIRS, 19 ARTIFICIAL RESERVOIRS, COMPOSING A TOTAL OF 5,976 RESERVOIRS
The Amazon is known worldwide for its water availability and the number of ecosystems, such as dry land, flooded forests, floodplains, igapós, open and closed fields. It also houses an infinity of plant and animal species: 1.5 million cataloged plant species; three thousand species of fish; 950 types of birds; and even insects, reptiles, amphibians and mammals.
The Amazon Hydrographic Region is constituted by the watershed of the Amazon River located in the national territory, by the river basins of the Marajó Island, in addition to the hydrographic basins of the rivers located in the State of Amapá that break in the North Atlantic (Resolution CNRH n ° 32 , of October 15, 2003), totaling 3,869,953 km².
The population in the Amazonian Hydrographic Region in 2010 was 9,694,728 inhabitants (5.1% of the country's population) and the population density was only 2.51 inhabitants per km². The capital cities of Manaus, Rio Branco, Porto Velho, Boa Vista, Macapá, as well as the cities of Santarém (PA) and Sinop (MT) are the urban centers that stand out among the 304 municipalities of the Amazon Hydrographic Region.
The watershed of the Amazon River is made up of the most extensive hydrographical network of the terrestrial globe, occupying a total area of about 6,110,000 km², from its sources in the Peruvian Andes to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean (in northern Brazil). This continental basin extends over several countries of South America: Brazil (63%), Peru (17%), Bolivia (11%), Colombia (5.8%), Ecuador , 7%) and Guyana (0.2%).
In terms of water resources, the average contribution of the Amazon river basin in Brazil is 132,145 m³ / s (73.6% of the total). In addition, the contribution of foreign territories to the flows of the hydrographic region is of the order of 76,000 m³ / s. The largest demands for water use in the region occur in the Tapajós, Madeira and Negro sub-basins and are intended for human consumption and animal feed, representing respectively 33% and 32% of the total demand in the region, which is of 78.8 m³ / s. In general, the estimated consumption is insignificant when compared to water availability per sub-basin.
State of Amazonas
The State of Amazonas has 62 municipalities and a population of 2.8 million. The 13 municipalities that make up the metropolitan region of Manaus concentrate 64% of the population. With the exception of Manaos Paritins and 6 other municipalities, the others are small, with a population of less than 50,000 inhabitants. The state has the largest area in the country's territorial extension, with 1.6 million km2. (3.17 times the extension of Spain), integrating 7 of the 9 component basins of the Amazon Hydrographic Region. Among the main rivers, besides the Amazon, the Black, Solimões Madeira and Purús rivers stand out.
Despite the high surface water availability, most of the Amazonian municipalities have water abstraction for urban water supply by shallow wells, such as Amazonian wells. The available information indicates that Alter do Chão and Içá aquifers are the most exploited and present good productivity indices in several areas. Of the 62 municipalities in the state, 44 are supplied exclusively by groundwater, 10 by surface and 8 mixed springs, including the capital Manaus. This circumstance is mainly due to the ease of exploration, the low cost of operation and maintenance of supply by wells and the large presence of small municipalities. At most, only 12 municipalities are served by the Companhia de Saneamiento do Amazonas - COSAMA - while Manaus is operated by the private company Aguas del Amazonas. The other 49 urban centers have water supply systems operated by municipal sanitation services, usually prefectures. In general, the supply systems are very precarious, as it is the case of 19 municipal offices where there is no treatment of raw water captured. In the Amazon, only 17 municipalities have satisfactory conditions of water supply to meet future demands. In addition, the planning of the necessary works results in investments of R $ 823.2 million throughout the state. Concentrated almost entirely on the expansion of water systems. Only in the municipalities of Lábrea and Santo Antônio Do Iça is it necessary to adopt a new spring, based on the low water availability of the springs currently used.
Water reservoirs State of Amazonas
