Spatial Variability of Rainfall and Vulnerability Assessment of Water Resources Infrastructure for Adaptive Management Implementation in Ceará, Brazil

Gabriela de Azevedo Reis, Larissa Zaira Rafael Rolim, Ticiana Marinho de Carvalho Studart, Samiria Maria Oliveira da Silva, Francisco de Assis de Souza Filho and Maria Aparecida Melo Rocha ()
Additional contact information
Gabriela de Azevedo Reis: Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Humberto Monte Av., Fortaleza, Ceará 60455-900, Brazil
Larissa Zaira Rafael Rolim: Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Humberto Monte Av., Fortaleza, Ceará 60455-900, Brazil
Ticiana Marinho de Carvalho Studart: Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Humberto Monte Av., Fortaleza, Ceará 60455-900, Brazil
Samiria Maria Oliveira da Silva: Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Humberto Monte Av., Fortaleza, Ceará 60455-900, Brazil
Francisco de Assis de Souza Filho: Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Humberto Monte Av., Fortaleza, Ceará 60455-900, Brazil
Maria Aparecida Melo Rocha: Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Humberto Monte Av., Fortaleza, Ceará 60455-900, Brazil

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: Given that a robust water resource management strategy requires the knowledge of natural and climatic factors and social and economic factors, we applied a variability and vulnerability assessment as a quantitative tool to characterize water resources in Ceará, Brazil. A methodological approach that identifies and quantifies variability and vulnerability would allow better solutions to management decision problems. This approach functions as an indicator-based framework separating areas with similar water availability and water resources infrastructure, indicating the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors in the area’s water resources. The assessment proceeded with the regions’ delimitation, classifying them according to rainfall amount and spatial variability. The Adaptive Capacity for Water Management Index (ACWM) was evaluated using georeferenced water infrastructure information based on that classification. Most of the state’s area is subjected to low rainfall (below average). Nonetheless, of the areas with low rainfall, 48% have high variability. Within those areas critical water infrastructures are located that supply water to the state’s main industrial and populated city. Thus, the acknowledgment of this characteristic can complement current water management. Lastly, the authors provided recommendations based on the coupling of variability and vulnerability assessments with adaptive management to address improvements in the current water allocation system.

Keywords: spatial variability; vulnerability; adaptive capacity; rainfall; adaptive management; entropy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/20/9147/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/20/9147/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:20:p:9147-:d:1772147

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().