The rapid advance of conventional agriculture in Piauí has caused some anthropogenic effects on the ecosystem, as changes in water quality. Among the factors determining the quality of the water system are the use and occupation of land, to analyze these parameters is necessary the analysis of the entire river basin, so as to promote a sustainable planning. In this sense this paper conducted a quantitative survey and the historical evolution of acreage and degraded within the River Basin Corrente, Piauí.. For this we used images obtained by TM - Landsat 5 to form mosaics that show the degradation process in different years (1985, 1990, 2000 and 2010). To delimit the catchment area of the basin, we used a Digital Elevation Model Hydrologically Consistent, so it was possible to visualize the catchment area. After these procedures was conducted the composition of spectral bands and image analysis. We noticed the presence of farms in the basin since the years 1985 to 1990, showing that long ago the savannah areas were targeted for agricultural production. During all periods analyzed was there presence of burned areas, common in savannah areas, also went up by more than 100% of the use and occupation of land for crops and consequent reduction of savannah biome and riparian vegetation.Pages: 6673-667
