GC13F-0726:
Xingu Project - Integrating Land Use Planning and Water Governance in Amazonia: Towards Improved Freshwater Security in the Agricultural Frontier of Mato Grosso.
Monday, 15 December 2014
Alex V Krusche1, Maria Victoria Ballester1, Christopher Neill2, Helmut Elsenbeer3, Mark S. Johnson4, Michael Thomas Coe5, Maria Garavello6, Silvia Guerra Molina6, Vanessa Empinotti6, Fernanda Reichardt6, Linda Deegan2 and Leila Harris4, (1)CENA Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, Piracicaba, Brazil, (2)Marine Biological Laboratory, Ecosystems Center, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (3)University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, (4)University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (5)The Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA, United States, (6)USP University of Sao Paulo, Economy, Administration and Sociology, São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract:
The main goal of this project is to identify how impacts from land conversion, cropland expansion and intensification of both crop and animal production interact to affect regional evapotranspiration, rainfall generation, river flooding, and water quality and stream habitats, allowing us to identify thresholds of change that will endanger agricultural production, livelihoods of non-agricultural settlers and the region's new urban population and infrastructure. We will survey the effects of this on (1) soybean farmers, (2) cattle ranchers, (3) small-scale farm families, (4) rural non-agriculturists, including fishers, and (5) urban residents and map their roles as stakeholders. We will also conduct current water use surveys among the different stakeholder groups, accompanied by questions on desired aspects for future freshwater security to identify targets for desirable outcomes of water governance strategies. These targets, together with the information on land use drivers, water quantity and quality and predicted scenarios for global changes will be incorporated into a fully integrated and interactive geospatially oriented socio-ecological model that can serve as framework for future water governance that enhances Freshwater Security in such systems. This is an international cooperation initiative lead by Brazil and with the participation of Canada, Germany and United States of America.
