It will seek to generate a comprehensive scientific view of the situation, with the aim of serving as an input for the implementation of future public policies.

La Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR) and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of the Province of Santa Fe will carry out an environmental investigation in the area of ​​the Saladillo and Ludueña stream basins.

The objective is to be able to carry out a survey, monitoring and diagnosis of the socio-environmental situation of the stream payment basins. Students, teachers and graduates of Architecture, Law and Biochemistry from the University will participate in the study, who will recognize the structural aspects of the area, provide advice on Environmental Law to inhabitants and authorities, and measure the level of contamination. of the waters.

It should be remembered that the stream payment basins were declared protected natural areas. However, for some time now, there have been complaints about their contamination, among which the indiscriminate accumulation of waste and the deterioration of various spaces stand out.

Within this framework, an agreement was signed to initiate the investigation and in which the rector of the UNR, Franco Bartolacci, together with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Erika Gonnet, participated. Also present were the General Secretary of the University, Guillermo Montero; the person in charge of the Department of Innovation for Development of the UNR, Pedro Ferrazini; and the Secretary of Environmental Policies of the Province, Oreste Blangini.

Rector Bartolacci appreciated the opportunity to work together with the Province of Santa Fe on a current problem that affects the quality of life of different populations in the area. “The objective is to be able to carry out a survey that serves as a basis to be able to build quality public policies that can change and improve the lives of the inhabitants. This is one more contribution from the Public University, that the scientific information that is produced serves the State as an input for the design and implementation of solutions”.

A study recently carried out by the Center for Sanitary Engineering of the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Engineering and Surveying of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR) confirmed that in some areas of the Ludueña stream, particularly in its upper course, high values ​​of inorganic load were found that come from sewage drains and industrial waste. These values ​​could be the cause of the visible water contamination that residents of the area have been denouncing.

In this way, the UNR makes available a team of researchers with knowledge in architecture, environmental law and biochemistry, who will seek to build a comprehensive view of what happens to the quality of life of the inhabitants who live in the Saladillo and Ludueña basins. .

“We have the vocation of working together with the University on an environmental issue as important as the Ludueña and Saladillo basins. We had complaints from these areas and we began to do work, but the problem that the downspout has left is very big. This agreement gives depth to the subject in order to be able to generate some public policy that can solve the problem”, commented Minister Gonnet.

An immediate antecedent

La Universidad Nacional de Rosario Since 2020, it has been carrying out various socio-environmental studies, including monitoring the situation of the islands located in the Paraná River Wetland.

For this, it installed an Experimental Base in the municipal reserve "Los tres cerros", where more than 60 researchers participate. Studies are being carried out and developed on the soil, the flora and fauna of the islands, the water and the air quality of the area, an early warning system on sources of fire, preservation strategies and environmental care, and a project environmental education.

This is the first time that a scientific study has been established that will highlight all the consequences of burning in the ecosystem and constitutes both an input for public policy and for judicial strategies.

Journalist: Gonzalo J. García / Photographer: Camila Casero