Page 28 - PROTECCIÓN Y REHABILITACIÓN AMBIENTAL EN LA CUENCA DEL RÍO BERMEJO

28 PEA BERMEJO

and Grande rivers in the Argentine Upper Basin of tendency towards increasing in magnitude. The ex-
the Bermejo River. The transboundary manifesta- pected impacts included the direct degradation of
tion of the erosion processes was the increase in water quality, emerging risks to human health, de-
sediment transport, which influenced both fluvial terioration or loss of river flora and fauna, and fish
morphological dynamics and existing downstream mortality resulting from contamination, the loss of
infrastructure, and the formation processes of the biological productivity of the soil and water com-
Delta of the Paraná River and navigation channels munities, impacts on the potential uses of water
of the la Plata River. resources, and increased costs of water treatment
Moreover, the diagnostic showed that the deg- for domestic and productive consumption.
radation of water quality in the affected segments In addition to water quality aspects, there were
of the water courses began in the area of influence problems of shortages of, and restrictions on, the
of rural activities, and got worse as it went through use of water resources (mainly for productive pur-
the towns and important cities. The diagnostic also poses) arising from highly seasonal rainfalls, that
identified certain segments of the rivers with signifi- resulted in water deficits during the winter and
cant organic and bacteriological contamination due spring. In the worst cases, these shortages could
to the discharge of livestock and industrial wastes affect water reserves for human consumption.
and poor livestock management. Thus, the analysis The diagnostic also identified the destruction of
identified, as an important transboundary concern, habitats and the loss of biodiversity as an environ-
the transport of organic and microbiological con- mental problem, albeit with different intensities,
taminants and other urban, industrial, and agricul- in wide sections of the Basin (see Table). It was de-
tural agents of sanitary relevance, which showed a termined that those processes affected the natural

Deforestation and risk of loss of biodiversity

deforestation loss of biodiversity

category km 2 % category km 2 %

Non-existing 51,817 42.07 0 34,864 28.31
Minimum 41,952 34.06 1 13,084 10.62
Restricted 1,360 1.10 2 27,342 22.20
Significant 11,662 9.47 3 25,892 21.02
Serious 6,997 5.68 4 11,786 9.57
Very serious 9,374 7.61 5 10,195 8.28

123,162 100.00 123,162 100.00