at a glance

Presented by the  Instituto de Geociências - Universidade de São Paulo, the study Enchentes no Rio de Janeiro: Efeitos da urbanização no Rio Grande (Arroio Fundo) - Jacarepaguá - Flooding in Rio de Janeiro: Effects of the urbanization of Rio Grande (Arroio Fundo) - Jacarepaguá, by Francisco Pontes de Miranda Ferreira e Sandra Baptista da Cunha, examines Human participation as an agent in the modification of hydrologic conditions in urban areas, directly related to the processes of erosion, deposition and transport of materials in river channels.

Engineering work that deepens and alters the channel and modifies the surrounding vegetation has an important impact. The urban development of the districts of Jacarepaguá and Barra da Tijuca has been causing alterations in the Grande river drainage system. In February of 1996, the flooding of the Grande river provoked more than 30 deaths, leaving hundreds of people homeless.