Impact of Changes in Land Use and Land Cover in the Contribution Basin of Doutor João Penido Water Supply Reservoir of Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil

Changes in the land use and land cover in areas adjacent to water reservoirs directly affect the quality of this water. This research presents a study on the water quality in the basin of one of the most important public water supply reservoirs in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. The main objective of this study was to analyze the behavior of limnological parameters and the correlation with land use and land cover in the contribution basin of the Doutor João Penido reservoir (CBJPR). The methodology was based on the analysis of water quality parameters, related to water samples collected from 2012 to 2015. Six sampling points were chosen from different locations: spring, medium course, main tributaries of the reservoir and the reservoir catchment. The parameters analyzed were turbidity, total solids (TS), oxygen consumed (OC), dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), E. Coli, temperature, pH and total dissolved solids (TDS). The Kendall’s tau test was used to analyze the correlations between the parameters of water quality, land use and land cover in the CBJPR. In general, measured parameters showed better results in spring and in reservoir catchment, showing a worse quality of the water along the tributaries and the dilution power of the reservoir. The correlations pointed to the need for protection and preservation of forests in strategic locations to ensure good water quality.