The Taquari-Pantanal project
Decision Support System for catchment-based river management
 National colonisation and impact on the Pantanal |
In the 1970s the government of Brasil tried to solve the problems of the poor and overpopulated southern states through internal colonisation programme. It founded therefore the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária (INCRA). The Planalto, the highlands around the Pantanal – a wetland of 180.000 km2, have been colonised in that period. Until then the Planalto was covered by natural vegetation. The soil is highly erosive and the colonisation has taken place without knowledge of the impact for the rivers of the Pantanal, one of the world’s most important biodiversity areas.
Erosion and silting up made the Taquari into an unstable braiding system leading to economic and ecological problems due to increasing flooding. This is at the moment a major problem in the Pantanal and in the Mato Grosso do Sul, because of the nearly permanent inundation of an area of about 11.000 km2. Proposal for solutions vary from establishing a national park to damming and dredging the river. Still, there is no coherent river management system and the behaviour of the river in the Pantanal is unknown.
Project questions
The two problems that are proposed to be tackled in this project are:
• The development of a river flow and sedimentation model of the lower Taquari in the Pantanal and the upgrading of the Brasilian knowledge in this matter;
• Capacity building for the organisation of integrated river management at the catchment level including all relevant stakeholders.
The objectives of the project
The overall objective is to support the wise use of the plains of the Pantanal Taquarí river catchment by developing tools for decision-making in river management at the catchment basis. The project will assess the consequences of river management and related land use in one of the catchments of the Pantanal, the Taquarí. It will assess the consequences for the river system, the downstream ecosystems and land use and develop an organisational model for river management at the river basin level, in co-operation with and supported by farmers, nature conservation representatives and national and state authorities. This has been worked out in four strategic objectives:
• Development and use of a “goal-oriented” dynamic approach of modelling of land use and the river catchment;
• Facilitation of the policy and decision-making process;
• Development and use of a transparent process, developing and “using tools for participation of stakeholders and conflict management and forms of co-operation”;
• Communication, feedback of the outcome and capacity building.
 |  |
 |
The approach
The project approach is to carry out joint Brazilian-Dutch research and organisation on river management focussed at understanding the Taquari system. The project is designed to develop a catchment approach for river management in the Pantanal. It aims at strategic integration of river management land use and biodiversity conservation in the Pantanal. The project consists of five Work Packages each based on a strategic objective as follows:
1. Modelling of land use and river system
2. Gaps inventory
3. Scenario development
4. Participation and conflict management
5. Communication, feedback and capacity building
The water input from the Planalto is considered as a given parameter (“black box”). The river in Coxim is the only point of entrance into the plains. It is supposed that the data and knowledge present in the institutions, with farmers and civil society are sufficient to make a first start with the modelling and the Decision Support System.
 |
Output
The results will contribute to the implementation of the Programa Pantanal and will result in:
• A database for the Taquari catchment
• An easy accessible Decision Support System for the Pantanal
• Agreement on the Comissão da Bacia do rio Taquari
• Agreement on sustainable river management of the Taquari.
| Partners Brasil Brasilia Corumbá EMBRAPA Pantanal Programa Pantanal The Netherlands Alterra, Wageningen-UR (lead) Arcadis NV ITC Enschede WL | Delft Hydraulics |
Dr. R.H.G. Jongman
Alterra - Green World Research
PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31 (0)317 474626
rob.jongman@wur.nl
www.alterra.nl www.pantanal-taquari.alterra.nl