The depolution of Rio Pinheiros: the attempt to recover a paulistan river and generate energy (2001-2011)

• Grant number: 20/15979-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: September 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History
• Principal Investigator: Janes Jorge
• Grantee: Nayra Karolyne dos Santos Rodrigues
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project analyzes an attempt to clean up the Pinheiros River that took place between the years 2001 to 2011, which sought to recover the waters of this river located in the city of São Paulo and pump them to the Billings Dam, in order to increase the plant's energy production Henry Borden hydroelectric plant, in Cubatão. Considering the attempt has ended without his objective to materialize, the present research proposal aims to document and problematize the development of the Pinheiros River Depollution Project, in order to find the reasons for the negative result. The problem of river degradation and depollution from São Paulo is a topic of great academic and social importance, both because of water as a natural resource as well as the importance of rivers for people, especially in the city of São Paulo, a metropolis in need of green and leisure areas. The research seeks to contribute also with the environmental history that has rivers as one of its main themes of study, presenting an innovation, which is the approach that favors the recovery of rivers and not their degradation that has prevailed in the studies conducted so far. (AU)