Environmental fragility: subsidize for the planning and management of the river basin of ribeirão da Laje (GO), Brazil

Due to negative impacts caused by anthropic actions to water resources, the latter being important in quantity and quality for the continuity and balance of life on Earth, it was an objective, through geotechnologies, to determine the environmental fragility of the watershed of Ribeirão da Laje, one of the main water sources used in the public supply in Rio Verde (GO). We observed major areas with potential and emergent fragilities varying from very low to low, propitious to farming. However, the occurrence of declivity with a major degree of influence in the erosive processes, soils of strong and very strong fragility, predominance of areas with a smaller degree of soil protection provide the formation of areas with potential fragility varying from average to strong and average emerging fragility. These areas with major fragility associated to the use and inappropriate use of the soil are causing environmental and economic losses, indicating the need to proper environmental and agronomic planning in the territorial unit in question. These results will subsidize the planning and management of the homonym watershed, besides serving as a foundation to other studies, contributing with information for the preservation of water resources.