Gestão dos rios internacionais em Moçambique: estudo do caso do Baixo Limpopo

Abstract

RESUME

The present work has as specific objectives, the evaluation of the patterns of floods and droughts in the Limpopo River basin and their impacts on agriculture and livestock in the district of Xai Xai, as well as the identification of management and water management problems. In order to achieve the outlined objectives, the physiographic maps of the region were analyzed, as well as tables of the most important floods in the Limpopo River basin, during the last thirty years. The study area falls within the lower Limpopo hydrographic basin. In the study area, there are two types of floods: one considered to have a lesser impact caused by local atmospheric precipitation and another, with greater impact, caused by the atmospheric precipitation that occurs in neighboring countries. Floods in the Limpopo basin cause enormous damage. The hydrometric heights of the Limpopo River, in Mozambique, decrease from upstream to downstream, however, they are more harmful downstream, where they flood vast areas. The reduction in flow in the lower Limpopo causes salinization of river waters. The quality of water for consumption as well as for irrigation causes problems.