Water erosion vulnerability and sediment delivery rate in upper Iguaçu river basin – Paraná

ABSTRACT Soil erosion is one of the most striking environmental degradation processes, which its mapping and assessment is an important tool for management activities and natural resource management in river basins, allowing managers to implement policies and sustainable land use occupation. This work aimed to apply the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in a GIS environment in the upper Iguaçu river basin, located at Paraná State, in order to assess the vulnerability to water erosion as well as the concentration of dissolved solids in suspension to estimate the solid discharge and sediment delivery rate, allowing the identification of more susceptible areas to water erosion. The results showed that over 23.52% of the upper Iguaçu river basin presented soil losses below 2.5 t ha–1 yr–1, meaning current low potential for erosion. Regarding the solid discharge, the basin has values ranging from low to very high, also leading to high values for sediment delivery rate. The identification of risk areas associated with accelerated erosion, carried out in this study provide important information for measures associated with the management, conservation and planning of land use in the basin, which is highly relevant for predicting development of various scenarios for the state Paraná for its hydroelectric potential.