Studies related to morphometric analysis are extremely important for
hydrogemorphological knowledge in watersheds. However, most rural roads
are not considered in these analyses. Therefore, the objective of this article was
to verify if the relations between the drainage network, the relief parameters,
and the road network indicate changes in the drainage dynamics of a watershed
occupied by agricultural use. The sugarcane crop is an influencing factor in the
increase in rural roads in the watershed and arrived in the region from 2009
onwards. Therefore, the time frame of 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 was chosen
for the investigation. Bibliographic research and quantitative measurements
were used as a methodology to extract information from the drainage network
and road network through morphometric parameters. For this, ArcGIS® 10.6.1
and Excel 2019 software were used. As a result, it was identified that the
watershed has a fourth-order river hierarchy; its area is 903.6 km², the
drainage density is 0.45 km/km², and when rural roads were included in the
analysis in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, corresponding to 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, and 3.1
km/km², respectively. Thus, the average density of roads in the period was 84%
higher when considering only natural drainage, increasing mainly after the
insertion of sugarcane in the scenario. Therefore, it is concluded that the
analysis of morphometric parameters is essential to generate new knowledge
about the studied watershed. Rural roads should be included in the analysis
since they influence the hydrogeomorphological aspects of the watersheds. In
this case, the increase in drainage density is directly related to the increase in
roads and sugarcane. With the inclusion of these in the morphometric analysis,
the watershed increases its drainage capacity, significantly altering the
hydrological response in hydrographic watersheds.