Brazil – Reservoir Impact Analysis

Water is a scarce commodity in the semi-arid state of Ceará, along Brazil’s northeastern coast. The existing water supplies are often stored in small man-made reservoirs. These numerous small reservoirs increase the evaporation of the little water available, and deplete the storage for Ceará’s overall water resources.

The state of Ceará’s Fundacao Cearense de Meteorologia (FUNCEME) contracted Riverside Technology, inc. (RTi) to quantify their state’s water losses through evaporation, which required mapping the small reservoirs from Landsat imagery. Working with FUNCEME, RTi evaluated the influence of these numerous small reservoirs on the overall yield of watersheds and on the operation of large reservoirs in Ceará. RTi determined the catchment area for the state’s reservoirs above five hectares, and defined the overall impact between them.

In the first phase of the project, RTi collected and interpreted satellite imagery, digitally processed this imagery into a geographic information system (GIS), and collected and updated reservoir information in the GIS. RTi also collected and analyzed hydrologic data, compiled and delivered all data electronically, and trained FUNCEME to utilize the model. In the second phase of the project, RTi incorporated the resource inventory and analysis into a water balance assessment to be used for operating reservoirs, and for developing water management policies for these water-scarce basins. By providing tools and methods for using satellite imagery and GIS systems for decision support, RTi’s efforts greatly improved FUNCEME’s water management analysis techniques and capabilities.

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