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EnglishBIOMONITORING THE WATER QUALITY USING BENTHIC MACRO-INVERTEBRATES: AN ADAPTATION OF BMWP BIOTIC INDEX TO A BRAZILIAN WATERSHED. The water quality of a watershed of Goias state, Brazil was evaluated using benthic macroinvertebrates through an adaptation of the BMWP (Biological Monitoring Working Party Score System) method. This approach was based on correlating water physical and chemical characteristics with the frequency of occurrence of different families of benthic organisms. A water quality rating system was designed by assigning different scores to each found family of benthic macroinvertebrates, being used to identify the degree of ecological alterations caused by anthropogenic infl uence on the basin. Keywords: Biomonitoring, BMWP, Water Quality, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, Meia Ponte river. portuguesFoi realizado o biomonitoramento da qualidade de agua utilizando os macroinvertebrados bentonicos, atraves do uso de uma adaptacao regional da metodologia do BMWP �Biological Monitoring Working Party Score System��, tendo como referencia a Bacia Hidrografi ca do rio Meia Ponte-GO, que relacionou as caracteristicas fisico-quimicas da agua e a frequencia de ocorrencia dos organismos bentonicos em nivel de familia. Considerando os novos �scores�� estabelecidos para as familias de macroinvertebrados bentonicos da referida bacia, foi determinado um Sistema de Classifi cacao da Qualidade da Agua, visando identifi car o grau de alteracao das caracteristicas ecologicas frente as condicoes ambientais dessa bacia. Palavras-chave: Biomonitoramento, BMWP, Qualidade de Agua, Macroinvertebrados Bentonicos, rio Meia Ponte.