DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW APPROACH APPLIED TO THE PIABANHA RIVER WATERSHED Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Lima Tese de Doutorado apresentada ao Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharia Civil, COPPE, da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, como parte dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do título de Doutor em Engenharia Civil. Orientadores: Renato Nascimento Elias Stuart Edward Bunn Francisco Olivera Rio de Janeiro Junho de 2019 DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW APPROACH APPLIED TO THE PIABANHA RIVER WATERSHED Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Lima TESE SUBMETIDA AO CORPO DOCENTE DO INSTITUTO ALBERTO LUIZ COIMBRA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO E PESQUISA DE ENGENHARIA (COPPE) DA UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO DE JANEIRO COMO PARTE DOS REQUISITOS NECESSÁRIOS PARA A OBTENÇÃO DO GRAU DE DOUTOR EM CIÊNCIAS EM ENGENHARIA CIVIL. Examinada por: ________________________________________________ Prof. Renato Nascimento Elias, D.Sc. ________________________________________________ Prof. Otto Corrêa Rotunno Filho, Ph.D. ________________________________________________ Prof. Daniel Andrés Rodriguez, D.Sc. ________________________________________________ Prof.a Erica Maria Pellegrini Caramaschi, D.Sc. ________________________________________________ Prof. Christian Brannstrom, Ph.D. RIO DE JANEIRO, RJ - BRASIL JUNHO DE 2019 Lima, Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Development of an environmental flow approach applied to the Piabanha River Watershed / Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Lima – Rio de Janeiro: UFRJ/COPPE, 2019. XIX, 164 p.: il.; 29,7 cm. Orientadores: Renato Nascimento Elias Stuart Edward Bunn Francisco Olivera Tese (doutorado) – UFRJ/ COPPE/ Programa de Engenharia Civil, 2019. Referências Bibliográficas: p. 142-158. 1. Environmental flows. 2. Watershed committees. 3. ELOHA. 4. Water policy. 5. Piabanha River. I. Elias, Renato Nascimento et al. II. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, COPPE, Programa de Engenharia Civil. III. Título. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thanks to my parents, Francisco Claudenir de Lima Junior, Guaraciara Mendes Peixoto, grandfather and grandmothers, Francisco Claudenir de Lima, Anggela Marta Lopes Barroso, Maria Mendes Veregin and Bryan Veregin for the support during every step of this Ph.D. I am extremely thankful to Anusarn Sangnimnuan. Thank you so much for always be there for me, for better or worse, for that I will be eternally grateful. I also would like to thanks my advisors, to Professor Stuart Edward Bunn I own a deep sense of gratitude, thank you so much for being my advisor and support me during the past 5 years, your advice, guidance, and suggestions made this work possible, thank you so much. To Renato Elias Nascimento and Francisco Olivera thank you for your assistance and guidance. I also would like to thank the Civil Engineering Program (Programa de Engenharia Civil – PEC/COPPE), in particular to the laboratory, Laboratório de Recursos Hídricos e Meio Ambiente (LABH2O). To Professor Erica Maria Pellegrini Caramaschi for the patience and excellent support with the biological data. To the board commission to take their time to evaluate and make this work better. I would like to thank the doctorate scholarship that I received supported by CAPES – Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education within the Ministry of Education of Brazil at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) - Finance Code 001. This work was also conducted thanks to a 12 months period scholarship at Texas A&M University supported by the International Cooperation Program CAPES/COFECUB at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro financed by CAPES. I also would like to thank the Piabanha watershed committee members for being willing to participate in this research and also in special to the water agency member Fernando Moura, for believe in the potential of the impact of this research in the committee, and to the former president of the Committee Paulo Leite for allow me to take this research to the plenary members. I would like to give a special thanks to Nelson Reis and OMA-BRASIL NGO for helping me participate in the watershed committee meetings, this help was essential to develop my work. iv To my friends, Melina Ive, Clara Alves and Alana Pinto for being the best friends of the world and try to make my days better, Franklin Gonçalves de Oliveira Sobrinho for always encourage me to keep going and support me when it was necessary, Mariana Villas-Boas, Ligia Araujo and Vinicius de Souza, for always help me when necessary and give me advice, Andressa Reis for help me understand more about fish and advice several times when I was not confident, thank you so much for cheer me up and stand by my side. v Resumo da Tese apresentada à COPPE/UFRJ como parte dos requisitos necessários para a obtenção do grau de Doutor em Ciências (D.Sc.) DESENVOLVIMENTO DE UMA PROPOSTA METODOLÓGICA PARA ESTUDOS DE VAZÕES AMBIENTAIS NA BACIA DO RIO PIABANHA Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Lima Junho/2019 Orientadores: Renato Nascimento Elias Stuart Edward Bunn Francisco Olivera Programa: Engenharia Civil Embora no Brasil a ciência das vazões ambientais ainda seja um tema pouco explorado, a estrutura de gestão de recursos hídricos do país apresenta uma grande oportunidade para sua implementação por meio do engajamento de comitês de bacias hidrográficas durante a construção de Planos de Recursos Hídricos. Este estudo propôs uma adaptação da estrutura dos Limites Ecológicos de Alteração Hidrológica (ELOHA) ao contexto de comitês de bacias hidrográficas brasileiras. A adaptação inclui a adição das etapas: envolver/consultar o comitê da bacia hidrográfica por meio de oficinas, questionários e mapeamento participativo; classificação das alterações hidrológicas; proposta de inclusão de uma base ecológica; e propor vazões ambientais com base nas diferentes legislações estaduais e no método de Tennant modificado. As oficinas, questionários e mapeamento participativo foram capazes de facilitar a participação dos membros do comitê de bacias a comunicarem suas necessidades. A bacia não possui alteração hidrológica significativa em seus rios, quando classificados os rios estão em uma condição não impactada e ou de baixo impacto. A hipótese ecologia-alteração hidrológica apontou uma ligação entre as alterações hidrológicas e a riqueza de espécies de peixes. Esses links precisam ser mais investigados. As categorias Excepcional e Excelente do método Tennant forneceram maior proteção do rio em comparação com os métodos brasileiros. Este estudo foi capaz de propor e aplicar uma metodologia de vazões ambientais adaptada ao contexto de comitês de bacia brasileiros. vi Abstract of Thesis presented to COPPE/UFRJ as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW APPROACH APPLIED TO THE PIABANHA RIVER Camilla Hellen Peixoto de Lima June/2019 Advisors: Renato Nascimento Elias Stuart Edward Bunn Francisco Olivera Department: Civil Engineering Although in Brazil the science of environmental flows is still little explored, the structure of water resources management of the country presents a great opportunity for its implementation through the engagement of watershed committees during the construction of Water Resources Plans. This study proposed an adaptation of the Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA) framework to the context of Brazilian watershed committees. The adaptation includes the addition of new steps: engage/consult the watershed committee through workshops, surveys, and participatory mapping; classification of the hydrological alterations; proposal of the inclusion of an ecological foundation; and propose different e-flows recommendations based on the different state legislations and the Tennant method. The workshops, surveys, and participatory mapping were able to facilitate the watershed members to participate and communicate their needs. The basin does not have significant hydrological alteration on its rivers when classified the rivers fall in the category of un-impacted and low impact condition. The flow ecology hypothesis pointed out a link between the hydrological alterations and the fish species richness. These links need to be further investigated. Outstanding and Excellent categories from Tennant method presented the highest values for instream flow protection compared with the current Brazilian methods. This study was able to propose and apply an environmental flow approach adapted to the context of Brazilian watershed committees. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Motivation .............................................................................................................. 4 1.2. Objective ................................................................................................................ 5 1.3. Goals ...................................................................................................................... 6 1.4. Key question .......................................................................................................... 6 1.5. Thesis overview ..................................................................................................... 7 2. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 8 2.1. Environmental flows overview .............................................................................. 8 2.2. Environmental