“Slaughter river” someone muttered. Indeed, the Riachuelo’s history is intertwined with tales of both serenity and sorrow. Today we’ll delve into the story of this 64-kilometer stream. It defines the southern boundary of Buenos Aires.
Originally called Río de la Matanza meaning slaughter river, this waterway has witnessed centuries of human activity. The Riachuelo begins in Buenos Aires Province. It ends its journey into the Río de la Plata. La Boca neighborhood thrives near the Riachuelo’s mouth. The Spanish word boca means “mouth”.
From its source to La Noria Bridge the river is called Río La Matanza. From there it is called Riachuelo. About 3.5 million people live in its drainage basin. This basin covers 2,240 square kilometers.
Centuries ago the name Matanza was an homage. It honored Spanish conquistadors defeated in 1536. Querandi warriors won that battle. It took the Spaniards forty years to return.
Its waters offered a natural port. Pedro de Mendoza in 1536 chose to settle near the Riachuelo. Juan de Garay also picked it in 1580.
Slaughterhouses and tanneries sprung up along the Riachuelo. They processed cattle from Argentina’s Pampas. Modern people built a global city. It included an international airport and petrochemical plants. They divided the land. They created farms, industry, and housing.
The Riachuelo became a political issue. It started around the 1862 administration of President Bartolomé Mitre. Artist Nicolás García Uriburu dyed the Riachuelo green in 1970. He did it on World Water Day in 2010. This act drew attention to its pollution problem.
The Matanza River receives much industrial waste. Factories and tanneries dump waste here. The river became very polluted. Heavy metals and wastewater contaminate it.
Critics noted a cleanup effort was in vain. Workers removed sunken ship hulls. They did nothing to stop new ships from sinking.
Plastic waste is a major issue. It abounds on the riverbanks. Without recycling it washes out to sea. It then kills marine life. The world produces 300 million tons of plastic yearly. About 8.8 million tons go into the oceans.
In 2006, Argentina created ACUMAR. It is the Autoridad de Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo. It’s Argentina’s first intergovernmental river basin commission. In 2008, the Supreme Court took action. It declared the federal, provincial, and city governments responsible. They must clean the Riachuelo. They must mitigate health impacts. They must restore the ecology.
The court decision led to a protected riparian zone. This zone extends 35 meters from the shoreline. Many villas stood on this land. About 17,000 people were relocated. Their houses were demolished.
The Riachuelo’s landscape on the city side changed recently. Warehouses, offices, and sheds crowd together. The neighborhood of Barracas lies uphill from the warehouses. It is a working-class area connected to the harbor.
In the end, the Riachuelo is a story of contrasts. It’s a story of natural beauty marred by pollution. It’s a story of industry and informal settlements. It’s a story of ongoing efforts to restore its waters and protect its people.