A cidade de Porto Alegre e as águas do Guaíba: uma história de “encontros” e “desencontros”

Abstract

A cidade de Porto Alegre e as águas do Guaíba: uma história de "encontros" e "desencontros"The city of Porto Alegre and the waters of Lake Guaíba: a history of "closeness" and "distancing" Antônio João Dias Prestes  Fabiano Quadros Rückert  ResumoO objetivo deste artigo consiste em produzir uma reflexão sobre as relações entre a cidade de Porto Alegre, capital do Rio Grande do Sul, e as águas do Guaíba. Localizado nas margens do lago Guaíba, o sítio urbano porto-alegrense ganhou forma influenciado pelas águas desse manancial que sofreu diferentes tipos de intervenções humanas a partir do desembarque dos primeiros açorianos na região. Partindo da premissa de que as relações entre a cidade de Porto Alegre e as águas do Guaíba foram construídas articulando interesses políticos e econômicos, saberes técnicos e elementos naturais, a primeira parte do artigo aborda o processo de poluição do lago Guaíba; e a segunda parte destaca as iniciativas para sua despoluição e recuperação ambiental, encaminhadas pelo poder público e pela sociedade em diferentes momentos históricos. Palavras-chaves:Porto Alegre; Poluição hídrica; Lago Guaíba; Despoluição. AbstractThis paper aims to bring thoughts on the relations between the city of Porto Alegre, capital of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, and the waters of Lake Guaíba. Located by the lake's shore, the urban site of Porto Alegre has been shaped under the influence of this huge water source, which suffered from many human interventions, since the arrival of the first Azorean immigrants in the region. Taking in account that the relationship between the city and the waters of Guaíba had been building by the articulation of political and economic interests, technical knowledge and nature, the paper is divided in two parts. The first one deals with the process of pollution of the Lake Guaíba, while the second focuses on the efforts for its depollution and environmental recovery that has been conducted by public powers and the local society at different historical moments.

A Multi Proxy Assessment of Long-Term Anthropogenic Impacts in Patos Lagoon, Southern Brazil

“…It is well known that Guaíba River is a source of high contamination and untreated domestic and industrial sewage (Dias Prestes and Quadros Rückert, 2017). However, the EF values only showed moderate pollution levels suggesting a considerable dilution process within the system.…”

“…The main activities near Guaíba River are concentrated in the urban area of Porto Alegre (the state capital with over 1.4 million people), where several industrial facilities are located, and use this river for effluent discharge (Dias Prestes and Quadros Rückert, 2017). On the other hand, Camaquã River drainage basin presents very low urban density where the only significant industrial activity is the exploitation of metallic sulphide minerals such as barite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite and hematite (Baisch and Wasserman, 1998;Renac et al, 2014).…”