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How do people gain access to water resources in the Brazilian semiarid (Caatinga) in times of climate change?

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Abstract

Climate change is becoming an imminent reality, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Therefore, it is essential to understand the relationships between humans and aquatic ecosystems in order to devise efficient management and conservation strategies. We conducted 126 interviews using a semi-structured form to record water sources, transport strategies, and the use and treatment of water by communities surrounding four reservoirs within two drainage basins in the semiarid region of Brazil. These factors were then compared to the mean water volumes of the respective reservoirs from 2013 to 2015, a period of severe drought in that area. Seven types of water sources were considered, according to the perspectives of the interviewees: large reservoirs (dams) (43% of the citations), other smaller reservoirs (25%), rainwater (17.5%), wells (7%), waterholes (3%), bottled water (4%), and water tanks (0.5%). The water resources obtained are transported to human residences in seven different manners: actively pumped (34% of the citations), by water tanker truck (33%), distributed in pipes by local resident associations (11%), transport by animal (14%), human transport (4%), by car (2%), and by motorcycle (2%). The water is then used for domestic purposes (21%), for personal hygiene (20%), by animals (19%), in agriculture (18%), for cooking (10%), for fishing (7%), and for drinking (6%). A worrisome trend was that many local residents did not treat the water they were consuming. Climate change affects seasonal patterns of rainfall that will, in turn, determine the availability and quantities of water resources, provoking changes in the sources of water used by human populations, their strategies of access to that resource, and water-use patterns. It is necessary sustainable use of water resources based on the realities of local populations.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Ethnobiology Laboratory, Marine Biology Laboratory, Bentos Ecology Laboratory, and the Aquatic Ecology Laboratory for logistic support, and especially the members of the communities visited during this work for their cooperation and participation in this research project. JM is grateful to project CNPq/MCTI 446721/2014. ELA thanks the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for providing a doctorate scholarship.

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  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - UFRPE, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, CEP: 52171-900, Brazil

    Evaldo de Lira Azevêdo, Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves & Thelma Lúcia Pereira Dias

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba - UEPB, Avenida das Baraúnas, 351, Bodocongó, Campina Grande, PB, CEP: 58429-500, Brazil

    Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves, Thelma Lúcia Pereira Dias & Joseline Molozzi

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de Lira Azevêdo, E., Alves, R.R.N., Dias, T.L.P. et al. How do people gain access to water resources in the Brazilian semiarid (Caatinga) in times of climate change?. Environ Monit Assess 189, 375 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6087-z

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