Jorge Enoch Furquim Werneck Lima,Euzebio Medrado da Silva,Eduardo Cyrino Oliveira-Filho,Eder de Souza Martins,Adriana Reatto,Vinicius Bof Bufon, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária dos Cerrados, , jorge@cpac.embrapa.br
ABSTRACT:
The Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) is the second largest Brazilian biome (204 million hectares) and due to its location in the Brazilian Central Plateau it plays an important role in terms of water production and distribution throughout the country. Eight of the twelve Brazilian hydrographic regions receive water from this Biome. It contributes to more than 90% of the discharge of the São Francisco River, 50% of the Paraná River, and 70% of the Tocantins River. Therefore, the Cerrado is a strategic region for the national hydropower sector, being responsible for more than 50% of the Brazilian hydroelectricity production. Furthermore, it has an outstanding relevance in the national agricultural scenery. Despite of the relatively abundance of water in most of the region, water conflicts are beginning to arise in some areas. The objective of this paper is to discuss the economical and ecological relevance of the water resources of the Cerrado.
Keywords: Brazilian savanna; water management; water conflicts.