Flooding and urban environmental quality: a study in the semi-arid city of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, between the years 2015 and 2021

Abstract

Cities are the greatest human representation of transformation of the natural environment, however, they are not synonymous with environmental quality. Among the problems caused by the appropriation of land, natural resources and population concentration are flooding. Although the Northeast region of Brazil suffers predominantly from droughts, it is also affected by rainfall dynamics. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the occurrence of flooding in the city of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, inserted in the semi-arid portion of the Northeast Region of the country, between the years 2015 to 2021, seeking to identify the areas and neighborhoods most affected, relating them to the conditions of urban environmental quality of the city. The technical bibliographic and documentary procedures and data collected by the Municipal Coordination of Protection and Civil Defense of Mossoró were used. From 2015 to 2018, flooding points were recorded in 13 of the city's 30 neighborhoods, focusing on the central neighborhoods. From 2019 to 2021, flood points were recorded in 24 of the 30 neighborhoods, and a dispersion of records to the peripheral neighborhoods from 2020 was observed. The conditions of urban environmental quality are impacted essentially by the accumulation of water in contact with waste waste and waste water from open sewage, providing the proliferation of vectors and diseases of water delivery, which may affect the health of the population and the environment, showing urgent the implementation of efficient and effective actions, articulated by the population, that provide the resolution of a problem that has been occurring for years.