Evaluation of the Contribution of the Lower São Francisco River’S Navigational Route to the Agriculture Competitive Enhancement in the Basin-AL/SE
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INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF LAND BASED ACTIVITIES IN THE SÃO FRANCISCO RIVER BASIN PROJECT ANA/GEF/UNEP/OAS Activity 1.1.C – Evaluation of the Contribution of the Lower São Francisco River’s Navigational Route to the Agriculture Competitive Enhancement in the Basin-AL/SE Executive Summary of the Final Report EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE LOWER SÃO FRANCISCO RIVER’S NAVIGATIONAL ROUTE TO THE AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE ENHANCEMENT IN THE BASIN-AL/SE Instituto Mineiro de Gestão das Águas Belo Horizonte – MG INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF LAND BASED ACTIVITIES IN THE SÃO FRANCISCO RIVER BASIN PROJECT ANA/GEF/UNEP/OAS Activity 1.1.C – Evaluation of the Contribution of the Lower São Francisco River’s Navigational Route to the Agriculture Competitive Enhancement in the Basin-AL/SE Executive Summary of the Final Report EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE LOWER SÃO FRANCISCO RIVER’S NAVIGATIONAL ROUTE TO THE AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE ENHANCEMENT IN THE BASIN-AL/SE Coordination Paulo Godoy Departamento de Hidrovias Ministério dos Transportes Consultant Nathercia Schneider Contract CPR/OAS No PO #50883 February 2003 EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE LOWER SÃO FRANCISCO’S NAVIGATIONAL ROUTE TO AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE ENHANCEMENT IN THE BASIN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION Activity 1.1C, “Evaluation of the Contribution of the Lower São Francisco’s Navigational Route to Agriculture Competitive Enhancement in the Basin” is inserted into Component I (Environmental Assessment of the Basin) of the Integrated Management of Land Based Activities in the São Francisco River Basin Project (GEF/ANA/OAS/UNEP). Its objective is to assess the alternative use of hydroways, in conjunction with other transportation modes, as a factor of enhancement of the Basin’s agriculture competitiveness, especially in Western and Southwestern Bahia. The work was carried out under the technical coordination of the Directory of Hydroways’ Infrastructure, of the Ministry of Transportation. It was focused on the identification of the loads produced within the area of influence of the São Francisco’s Hydroway and in the possibility of transporting them by boat. It also viewed the evaluation of the advantages of using multi-modal transportation, after the enhancement of navigation the River. It compared transportation costs of the production, with and without consideration of the hydroway, as well as its impacts on the agricultural production in the Region, in the search for a greater economic efficiency. Thus, this Report aims at a more effective contribution to the Integrated Management Program, to be elaborated based on secondary data from the developed researches. This allowed a more precise and objective analysis of the current situation in the São Francisco Basin, regarding the outflow of the regional production. Basically, it is composed of nine main chapters, focusing on the characteristics of the São Francisco River, on its transport network; on the interior hydroway transportation; in a general way, and on the São Francisco Hydroway in particular; on the analysis of current and potential alternate comparative scenarios of transportation modes in the basin; on the used simulation model and on the proposal for outflow transportation of the Region’s agricultural production. The outcome of this analysis and diagnosis is presented in the form of conclusions and basic recommendations for the São Francisco Basin’s Integrated Management Program. 1. THE SÃO FRANCISCO BASIN 1.1. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS The São Francisco Basin, objective of the study, with a 634,000 km², represents 7.5% of the National territory and is divided into four main sub-regions, as shown in Figure 1. i Figure 1. Sub-divisions of the São Francisco’s Basin 2. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM NETWORK IN THE AREA OF INFLUENCE OF THE SÃO FRANCISCO BASIN 1 The transportation system is understood as a composition of sectors, designated as modes, which include roadways, waterways, airways, railways, pipeways and urban transportation. The aquatic mode, object of this work, is composed by the areas of Long Course Navigation, Interior Navigation, Naval Construction and Ports, which are interdependent and complementary. The focus here will be on Interior Navigation. The study will analyze the interaction among modes which will provide the best logistics to production outflow from the area of influence of the São Francisco’s Hydroway. Therefore, it is fundamental to know the existing transportation infrastructure in the Region. 1 Data obtained from GEIPOT/MT’s site, 2000. ii In short, it is known that (i) all States in the area of influence of the São Francisco's Hydroway have road networks in medium to bad conditions and (ii) the hydroway is navigable in the Sates of Minas Gerais, Bahia and Pernambuco, but its reaches in Alagoas are in an advanced stage of accretion of riverbed level, due to sedimentation processes. The States of Minas Gerais, Bahia and Pernambuco have operating railroad networks. The Ports considered in the study were those of Baía de Todos os Santos (BA) and Suape (PE). 3. INTERIOR HYDROWAY TRANPORTATION In their majority, the navigable rivers run through regions known as the “great empty areas”, where there is little attractiveness for investments, which would allow them in the market, as production centers. Therefore, interior navigation, proper for transporting great loads, was set apart, short of investments which would assure its continuity. Today, the interiorization process, driven by the expansion of agricultural and mineral frontiers, reached the area of influence of our rivers. They convey the outflow of grains, minerals, lumber, oil products and construction materials. In the way back, they bring, to the producing regions, supplies and equipment, in a total load already above the 12 million tons a year.2 Areas that were uninhabited are being covered by cultures, by the big farms, or by mining camps. In the biggest hydroways, traffic has begun to increase. Several ports located along the rivers started to be re-equipped for handling the production from the new agricultural poles. Construction of infrastructure works, from North to South, in the Country, promotes the creation of long navigable stretches, opening new horizons for the interior navigation. Activities related to interior navigation implementation, supervision and control have been passed to ANTAQ (National Agency of Hydroway Transportation), which began to operate in February of 2002. 3.1. THE HYDROWAY CONCEPT By concept, Interior Hydroway Transportation, or Interior Navigation, is that done in natural or artificial waterways, into the continents, especially in rivers and canals. A potentially navigable river requires relatively low financial investments, to become a hydroway. The biggest costs are located in specific points (critical points) along the river, such as rapids, rocky parts, curves with short radius and points with insufficient depth. The water course complying with the conditions for navigation, allowing the transit of larger vessels is denominated an interior navigable way and might become a hydroway, by means of a declaratory act of the public powers. 3.2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTERIOR NAVIGATION TRANSPORTATION Interior hydroway transportation is especially useful for conveyance of great volumes of cargo, through long distances (bulk solid and liquid cargoes, containers, etc.). It presents specific characteristics that make it attractive, from an economic point of view. 2 Only 0.48% of the total loads in the World are transported through hydroways. iii Among those characteristics, it is worth mentioning the following: (i) very low maintenance costs, making it very economic (the situation improves as the use of the mode intensifies); (ii) great capacity; (iii) lower fuel consumption (the good physical conditions of the waterways – minimum friction, horizontal planes – do not require great power per transported ton; and (iv) less expensive freights. 3.3. CHARACTERIZATION OF LOADS WITH VOCATION FOR HYDROWAYS The aquatic mode is proper for loads that do not require great transportation velocity high and may be conveyed in large volumes. The loads known with a “vocation for hydroways” are, basically, those with low added values and that may be transported in great volumes for long distances (grains and agricultural supplies, for example). 3.4. BENEFITS FROM USING INTERIOR HYDROWAY TRANSPORTATION As each mode has its own specific energetic use and particular environmental characteristics, decisions concerning transportation impact the environment should be weighted before taken. Environment and quality of life have been receiving more attention, leading to an increasing demand, not only for a solids transportation system, but also for policies that take environmental objectives into consideration. Recent European studies have compared the social costs of sound and atmospheric pollution, land coverture, construction/maintenance and accidents, per transportation mode. The aquatic mode was the one with the least environmental impacts. In the sound pollution, accidents and land coverture, it showed little or no impacts. Analysis of the same loads carried by different modes showed that boats had fewer accidents, consumed less energy, produced less pollutants emissions and were less annoying to the society. The study’s conclusions showed that aquatic transportation is environmentally safe and contributes to a sustainable development, thus should be encouraged. 4. THE SÃO FRANCISCO HYDROWAY The São Francisco Hydroway