Barraginhas para captação de água de chuvas e recuperação de área degradadas: um projeto social para colheita de água de chuva.

Abstract: The accelerated and disorganized deforestation in Central Brazil and the transformation of these natural ecosystems into crop land or pastures, without adequate technologies, resulted in irrecoverable damages to the environment, especially with respect to water and soil conservation, with particular mention to compactation. As a consequence, the soil intake rate decreased and surface runoff increased, thus causing laminar erosion, low soil quality, silting up of rivers, floods and decreased sustainability of family properties. With the objective of reverting this scenario, a demonstrative unit was implemented in Sete Lagoas MG, in 1995, in a property of 70 ha, where 30 micro-cachments ("barraginhas") were built to contain surface runoff damages.These micro-cachtments also retain pollution sources carried by the waters and favor the recharge of good quality water tables, by means of improving soil intake rate, recovering water sources and alleviating droughts. Due to the success of this demonstration unit, by means of field visits by farmers, NGO´s and publication of articles in journals and national/international congresses, a decision was taken to extend the experience and build 960 low-cost micro-catchments, in 1998, in 60 small properties covering all the micro-basin of the Paiol stream, in the village/community of Estiva, Sete Lagoas county. That was only possible because of the active participation of small farmers in the indication of existing degraded sites and the support provided in terms of food and lodging for the working teams As a result, it is now possible to hear the farmers testimonials on the effects observed in elevation of water tables observed in their domestic reservoirs ("cisternas"), better utilization of the water and drought alleviation, that have increased their yields.