The inadequate management of land use due to the urbanization process and agricultural
activities put the quality of natural resources at risk, leaving hydrographic basins vulnerable to
the degradation of their water resources. In Palmas, Tocantins, the Água Fria river watershed
presents an intensive panorama of expansion of the urban perimeter since the initial territorial
occupation front of the city to the present days Thus, territorial occupation interferes in the land
cover and use dynamics, especially in protected areas of the basin. Therefore, the present study
aimed to analyze changes in land cover and land use in the Água Fria river watershed, as well
as to relate them to environmental and urban legislations within the time frame of the years
2008 and 2018. The methodology implemented consisted of literature review, analysis of the
urban occupation of the city of Palmas, Tocantins; interpretation of urban and environmental
legislation, GIS processing techniques and visual site analysis. The obtained results revealed
that the supervised management of the APA Serra do Lajeado, in the middle course of the basin,
refrained the expansion of land uses, such as the cultivation of annual crops, presenting a
decrease of 0,42% in the class areas of grains and cereals. In addition, there was an increase of
3,65% in the pasture class and 3,46% in the shrubbery forest class area. The high course of the
basin remains in a good state of conservation because it contains parts of the springs in the
Lajeado State Park (PEL) and the escarpments of the Serra do Lajeado, which maintains the
native vegetation protected, and it is represented by the class of forests in the years analyzed.
In the lower course of the hydrographic basin, there was strong pressure from the growing of
irregular urban areas as a result of high land prices in central urban areas with more
infrastructure, which resulted in an increase of 0,89 km² of occupation in that area of the basin.
Moreover, the new city Master Plan, Law nº 400, of April 2018 (PALMAS, 2018) approved
the expansion of the urban perimeter in the basin, which may cause major environmental
impacts, resulting in the degradation of the soil and the existing stream. The Permanent
Preservation Areas (APPs) and the Urban Green Areas (AVUs), located in the lower course of
the basin, showed occasional changes in the conflicting use of land, mainly represented by the
classes of irregular land subdivision and dams; in addition to degradation of native vegetation
of APPs for the installation of urban infrastructure during land regularization processes.
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