This work was carried out at the Americana Reservoir, owned by Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz, and was part of a joint R & D project with Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas - Botucatu - São Paulo - Brazil. Water and sediment samplings were collected in October and December 2003 and February, April and June 2004. Six sampling points were selected, being five upstream the barrage and one downstream. Flora assessment was carried out in December 2003, April and July 2004. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus were observed in the water samples with average values of 3.867 mg L-1 for nitrate, 0.706 mg L-1 for ammonia, 1.372 mg L-1 for nitrite and 151.979 µg L-1 for phosphate dissolved in water. Sediment presented a high level of fertility with mean values of 31.18 g kg-1 for organic matter, 68.87 mg dm-3 for phosphorus, 36.96 mmol dm-3 for calcium and 11.86 mmol dm-3 for magnesium. Marginal and floating plants were the main weeds in the reservoir, with the most prominent being Brachiaria subquadripara, Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes and Salvinia auriculata.
aquatic plants; water quality; sediments; reservoir
