Rio Tietê

The Rio Tietê is a river Brésil ienne of the State de São Paulo. It is well-known in Brazil owing to the fact that it crosses the megalopolis of São Paulo.

It is born in Salesópolis, in the Serra C Mar, with 1.027 meters of altitude. Although it is not that to 22 km of the littoral, the escarpments of Serra C Mar oblige it to walk on in opposite direction towards the interior of the country. It consequently crosses the State de São Paulo of south-east towards the North-West to its mouth in the artificial lake formed by the dam Jupiá on the Rio Paraná, to a few 50 km of the town of Pereira Barreto. Its overall length is of 1.150 kilometers.

Description of the course

Tietê crosses all the metropolitan region of São Paulo, and from there run still 1100 km, until the municipe of Itapura, with its mouth in the Rio Paraná, at the border with Mato Grosso C Sul.

In São Paulo, it is bordered by the way express Marginal Tietê , which with the Marginal Pinheiros , represents the principal system of circulation in the city.

After being left the city of São Paulo, Rio Tietê passes by a hydroelectric factory in the municipe of Santana C Parnaíba (called Edgar de Souza), and a little further the dam Pirapora C Bom Jesus is.

Rio Tietê drains EMU surface made up of six catchment areas (Viola Tietê (high Tietê), Sorocaba/Médio Tietê (Sorocaba/average Tietê), Piracicaba-Capivari-Jundiaí, Tietê/Batalha, Tietê/Jacaré and Baixo Tietê (Low Tietê)), and this in one of the richest areas of the southern hemisphere. Throughout its course its water bathes 62 municipes bordering.

Pollution

Passing by São Paulo, the river is extremely polluted. But it always was not thus. In the years 1960 there were still fish in the river in its section " capitale" and one fished some. There were also famous and very disputed regattas. One can locate the cause of the pollution of Rio Tietê, because it coincides with the strong industrial expansion of the town of São Paulo. This degradation also coincides with the construction of the reserve of Guarapiranga, for the generation of energy.

From 1992, after intense popular pressures, the government of the state promised to establish a plan of depollution. This difficult task received the name of Projeto Tietê or Projet Tietê . This project is not only governmental because it comprises the active participation of organizations of the civil society.

At the beginning of the program, the percentage of sewages treated compared to the collected sewers did not exceed 20% (in the metropolitan region of São Paulo). In 2004, this percentage was of 63%. It is hoped that at the end of the program this index will reach 90%.

Since the beginning of the programme of depollution in 1992, one already invested more than one billion and half of US$.

Equipment: stoppings

Throughout Rio Tietê were built several stoppings with an aim of using its important hydroelectric potential, but also of allowing navigation. Let us quote:

the Stopping Edgard de Souza, in Santana C Parnaiba.
the Dam Pirapora C Bom Jesus, in Pirapora C Bom Jesus
the Dam Rasgão, in the municipe of Pirapora C Bom Jesus.
the Dam Laras, close to Laranjal Paulista
the Dam Anhembi, close to the town of Anhembi.
the Barrage of Barred Bonita, close to the city to Barred Bonita
the Barrage of Bariri, close to the town of Bariri.
the Dam Ibitinga, between the localities of Borborema and Iacanga.
the Dam Promissão, close to the towns of Promissão and Avanhandava
the Stopping to Very Irmãos - It allowed the use of part of water of Rio Tietê in the factory of Ilha Solteira thanks to the deviation by the Canal Pereira Barreto which connects the lakes of the two stoppings.

Locks

Below a table taking again the main features of the locks marking out its course. Attention, the lock of Santa Maria, the last mentioned, is not on Rio Tietê, but on its most important affluent, Rio Piracicaba.

Let us add that the Canal Pereira Barreto has a 3,5 meters depth, and a capacity of 16 million annual tons of freight. It has a length of more or less 10 km and allows the traffic of convoys of 144 m length, 11,6 meters broad and 2,5 m with draft, without restriction of crossing with other convoys.

Upstream of the stopping of Bonita Barred and of its lock Rio Tietê is still navigable on 191 kilometers, to the town of Laras, not far from São Paulo.

The basin Paraná - Tietê

Photograph gallery

Random links: