This research seeks to provide a contribution on intervention in urban watersheds, based on the principles of sustainable development. The study area adopted is the Joana River s Basin, located at the Andaraí, Tijuca, Vila Isabel neighborhoods and at the Maracanã Stadium, which was the object of this pilot project of the Mangue Channel sub-basin (UFRJ, 2002; UERJ, 2002). It should be emphasized that sustainable development is understood by those ones who seeks to satisfy the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations when they meet their own needs. Main Topics included in the principal study: a) Studying the historical evolution of the usage of urban - land in the City of Rio de Janeiro, with emphasis on aspects of pluvial water drainage. b) Characterizing the physiography including the network of macro - drainage, and land use at the Joana River s Basin. c) Evaluating the structural flood control measures in the Watershed study, understanding flood control as well as the flow control of the macro-drainage network focused at its containment within the adductor bodies. d) Analyzing the problem of flooding in the object of the basin study. e) Presenting and discussing alternatives to the problem studied.