Actions and water quality of the São Domingos River, São Paulo, Brazil, from 2000 to 2010

The São Domingos River sub-basin, belonging to the Turvo/Grande Rivers Water Resources Management Unit (UGRHI-15) SP, Brazil, encompasses eight municipalities: Ariranha, Santa Adélia, Pindorama, Catanduva, Catiguá, Tabapuã, Cedral and Uchoa. The objective of this study was to learn about the projects and actions developed by the municipalities in the sub-basin and the water quality of the São Domingos River, through interviews with municipal managers and consultations with reports from CETESB and the Turvo/Grande River Basin Committee. CETESB is the agency responsible for monitoring the water quality of the main river in the sub-basin, the São Domingos River, monitoring points along its length and using, among other indices, the Water Quality Index (WQI) adopted in this study. To compare the community’s knowledge and participation in the process of cleaning up the São Domingos River, interviews were conducted with residents of municipalities whose population has direct contact with this river. As a result, the average annual IQAs for the points evaluated from 2000 to 2010 ranged from poor to good, according to the CETESB classification, showing a trend of improvement in the IQAs and an increase in projects each year.