UFSC Micro Basin—A Preliminary Study: A Stream to Call It Ours

The object of this study was the micro basin of Campus UFSC, component of the surface slope and drainage network of Itacorubi Hydrographic Basin (HB) in Florianópolis city (Brazil). The HB is the unit of planning and environmental management preferred, but the establishment of a sub unit as the Campus UFSC micro basin can be exemplary. The objective of this exploratory research conducted between April and July 2011, was to characterize and locate the water drainage network contributors of micro basin of the Campus, select the main and associate them with environmental indicators. 72 source points of water contributions to the formation of the Campus UFSC micro basin were identified, photographed, georeferenced, mapped and organoleptically characterized. Surrounding critical areas in the public health sphere—as well as socio-cultural and landscape patrimony, quality of specific ecosystems and local economy—were identified. This study proposed environmental indicators in order to guide a plan for conducting water quality diagnosis and identification of factors that negatively impact the aquatic ecosystem of UFSC Campus. The construction of environmental and sustainability indicators for the study of environmental conditions in this area is necessary and urgent, because it is a tool of great importance for driving programs working towards the recovery and revitalization of the Itacorubi HB and in the monitoring of its development.