Sustainability Infrastructures in the Coastal Lagoon Waterway of Southern Brazil: Connections to Increase Opportunities in Relation to Nature

The waterway of Lagoa dos Patos, Guaíba Lake and Jacuí River water system, in the coastal zone of Rio Grande do Sul, faces the improvement of charges transportation by companies that work in the Rio Grande Ocean Port. This is a strategy of companies to deal with the loss of contracts for the ports of the state of Santa Catarina, due to the high costs related to the transportation by trucks in highways. On the other hand, the transportation by waterway saves carbon emissions, in comparison with the highway alternative. The port authorities of this waterway have difficulties to develop their environmental management systems, and that is related to the pattern of management of their budgets by the governmental agencies. There are also limits in the task to protect the water system and build an adequate risk management policy. This paper explores the necessities of connections for sustainability and to support better conditions for cooperation between different stakeholders in the region of influence of these operations.