The Tibagi river and representations: a water controversy and development of Tibagi Project(1970 - 2000)

Abstract

The river Tibagi from the city of Londrina, in the years 1970 and 1980 was a subject of much discussion and controversy due to the project of raising its waters to supply the population of the cities of Londrina and region. In articles published in newspapers, especially in the Folha de Londrina, in the 1970s and 1980s, it was identified that, this time, the perception emerged that the river was polluted. Thus, our primary goal in the first part of this research is to investigate how it came to creating this image. Therefore, we used a collection of newspaper clippings about the controversy raised from the waters Tibagi and interviews with Nelson Amanthea civil engineer and agronomist Marcos Antonio Castanheira, both participated in discussions on the project. It was in this period that the ideas of ecology was entered and began to circulate in the city in the late 1970s. In this context, the emergence of the "age of ecology”, allegations and actions to combat pollution started to become more effective and broad, as well as, arose environmental associations, specialized government agencies and specific legislation. Thus, the objective of this research is also investigating the involvement of scientists and institutions in environmental issues through research of river Tibagi that became evident in the late 1980 and early next decade when the University State of Londrina initiated research in Tibagi river basin. Is emphasized the participation of members of the Department of Animal Biology and Plant - UEL, the company Klabin Pulp and Paper, Telêmaco Borba - PR and COPATI - Intermunicipal Consortium of Tibagi Basin, projects and actions in order to promote their recovery. A major action was investigated Project “Appearance of Fauna and Flora River Tibagi” which became known as “Project Tibagi “. In this sense sought to investigate the origins of the project, the main participants involved, their development, search results, the motivations that led the design to be closed and the relationship of scientists with the river. The main sources used were the newspaper Folha de Londrina and Notícias UEL; testimonials from researchers UEL and reports Tibagi Project.