Evaluation of Adjustment Environmental Contract to Pig Production in Pinhal River Sub-Basin

In 2001, staff and scientists of Embrapa Swine and Poultry Research Center carried out a diagnosis in Alto Uruguai Basin about the number of pig productions that had environmental permission. At that time, 95% of farms didn't have permission and only 5% of these farms had the proper permission to operate. Because of this situation, a volunteer Adjustment Environmental Contract (AEC) for pig production was established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of AEC in improving the water quality in a sub-basin with pig farmers that signed the adjustment. The evaluation occurred in Pinhal River sub-basin that is located in Concordia, West part of Santa Catarina State. The monitoring of water parameters occurred in eight Sites of the river during three years (2006-2009). To assess whether the AEC was efficient, Brazilian Water Act was used. Years 1, 2 and 3 are respectively 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009. The average annual concentrations of TSS in 2007 were 130.2 mg/L, 137.0 mg/L in 2008, and 99.8 mg/L in 2009. Turbidity showed the same trend of as TSS: Year 1, 36.6 NTU; Year 2, 44.4 NTU; and Year 3, 14.9 NTU. Concentrations of nitrate and TP decreased from 2006 to 2009; nitrate from 1.81 mg mg/L NO3-N to 1.54 mg NO3-N; TP from 0.29 mg/L to 0.10 mg/L, respectively. The same trends occurred for Fecal Coliforms and E. coli. These results show that obligations proposed by AEC had potentially improved water quality, repair riparian zone and control the use of pig waste as fertilizer. Pinhal River still has water quality problems related to total phosphorus concentration and presence of Coliforms and Salmonella. These results can help the government, farmers, and society to establish environmentally sound and sustainable programs for pig production.