Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística

About the publication - Environmental Diagnosis of the Jequitinhonha River Basin

The hydrographic basin of the Jequitinhonha River covers most of the northeast of the State of Minas Gerais and a little sector of the southeast of Bahia. It is located between the 16º and 18°S parallels and the 39º and 44ºW meridians, adding up to a total area of 70,315 km2 . Of this area, 66,319 km2 are located in Minas Gerais, whereas 3,996 km2 belong to Bahia. The basin encompasses 11.3% of the area of Minas Gerais and only 0.8% of Bahia, amounting to 6.1% of the combined area of the two states.

This area comprises six mesoregions, subdivided into 11 microregions, including 63 municipalities, 41 of them totally within the basin and 22, partly. The poverty index in this region is high, causing a rural exodus to major urban centers and a persistent decrease in the population. With more than two thirds of the population living in the rural area, it has been called the "depressed region" by many studies, where unfavorable poverty, misery, malnutrition, mortality, illiteracy, unemployment and socio-economic infrastructure indexes prevail in most municipalities.

A number of diagnoses agree that water restrictions and periodic droughts are relevant factors to the low performance of agriculture in the basin, even accounting for 30% of the regional GDP. Coupled with the lack of private and public investments, these factors agree that this region is a population expeller.

Nevertheless, the depressing picture has been gradually improved by the state administrations, which have been improving the road network and distribution of electricity as a way to channel resources to the implementation of industries and enhance the distribution of products in the region, as well as foster the entrance and circulation of products coming from other markets.

Jequitinhonha River is the most important natural resource in the region. Human activities like deforesting for agriculture and mining along its course and its tributaries have been causing important changes in the hydrological cycle over the years. In addition, dense trampling areas have been formed in the slopes across the valley.

All the riverbed shows an extensive silting. The mouth of the river in the city of Belmonte is extensively filled with materials carried from the upper and medium courses, compromising the navigation in the channels that access the neighbor city of Canavieiras.

Considering the particular characteristics of climate and relief coupled with the socio-economic conditions, especially basic sanitation, the Jequitinhonha River basin remains a challenge to governmental policies. Most of its municipalities are within the area of operation of SUDENE, though the inclusion of all the basin in its jurisdiction has been recently pleaded.

In 1995, the IBGE, through the First Division of Geosciences of the Northeast, was in charge of diagnosing the environmental quality in that area, providing subsidies to governmental policies aiming at improving the quality of life of its population. The proposed analyses include suggestions of a better basic sanitation, control and monitoring of water resources and enhancement of the road network, as well as the examination of the damage due to mining activities, aiming at drafting a comprehensive picture of the policies of land use in force in that area.