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Environmental degradation from human pressures includes the conversion of native vegetation cover into pastures and cropland, as well as riparian deforestation, leading to river siltation, biotic homogenization, and loss of ecosystem services. The objective of our study was to evaluate water quality and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure in response to changes in land use at local and buffer spatial extents. We assumed that human disturbances negatively affect water quality and macroinvertebrate assemblage condition. Greater human influence was observed at the local extent (Local Disturbance Index – LDI) than at the buffer (Buffer Disturbance Index – BDI) extent. Likewise, biological metric responses were stronger relative to the LDI than to the BDI or to the Integrated Disturbance Index (IDI). These results support establishing a biomonitoring program for assessing water body quality in the Doce River basin to facilitate conserving aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services in the upper Graipu River.