{{for|other rivers with the same name|Doce River (Goiás)|Doce River (Rio Grande do Norte)}} {{Infobox river | name = Doce River | native_name = {{native name|pt|Rio Doce}} | name_other = | etymology = | image = Rio Doce Delta.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Doce River delta at the Atlantic Ocean. | image_alt = | map = | pushpin_map = Brazil | pushpin_map_caption= <!---------------------- BASIN --> | river_system = | progression = | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = | mouth_location = | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|-19.6558|-39.8148|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | altitude_difference= | basin_size = | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Brazil | basin_cities = <!---------------------- PHYSIOGNOMY --> | length = | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = <!---------------------- FEATURES --> | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | waterbodies = | waterfalls = }} The '''Doce River''' ({{langx|pt|Rio Doce}} {{IPA|pt-BR|ˈʁi.u ˈdos(i)|}}, "Sweet River") is a river in southeast Brazil with a length of {{convert|853|km}}. The river basin is economically important. In 2015, the collapse of a dam released highly contaminated water from mining into the river, causing an ecological disaster.
==Course== The Doce River is formed by the junction of the Piranga and the Carmo<ref name=Doce>{{cite web|title=Doce River|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/167321/Doce-River|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=19 January 2013}}</ref> near the historical city of Ouro Preto, whose sources are located in the foothills of the Mantiqueira and Espinhaço mountain chains at altitudes of about {{Convert|1200|m|0|abbr=on}}. It flows in a northeastern direction via Ipatinga, makes a wide curve near Governador Valadares, and flows in a southeastern direction passing through Conselheiro Pena, to enter the Atlantic Ocean near Linhares in Espírito Santo state. Its main tributaries are the Piracicaba, Casca, Matipó, Caratinga-Cuieté, Manhuaçu, Santo Antônio and Suaçuí Grande, in Minas Gerais; the Pancas, Guandu, and São José, in Espírito Santo. [[File:Bacia do rio Doce com municípios.png|thumb|Map showing the Doce River Basin]]
Part of the river basin is contained in the {{convert|3562|ha}} Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve, a fully protected area.<ref>{{cite web|language=Portuguese|title=Unidade de Conservação: Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi|publisher=MMA: Ministério do Meio Ambiente|url=http://sistemas.mma.gov.br/cnuc/index.php?ido=relatorioparametrizado.exibeRelatorio&relatorioPadrao=true&idUc=191|access-date=2016-04-19}}</ref> South of the point where the Piracicaba enters the river near Ipatinga the river forms the eastern boundary of the Rio Doce State Park.<ref>{{cite web|language=pt |last=Marques|first=Chris|title=Conheça o Parque Estadual do Rio Doce |url=http://www.dentrodomochilao.com/2016/07/conheca-o-parque-estadual-do-rio-doce/|access-date=2017-02-06}}</ref>
==Economic value== The Doce River has great economic importance for the region. The basin is home to the largest steel making complex in Latin America. Three of the five largest companies in Minas Gerais state in the year 2000, Companhia Siderúrgica Belgo Mineira, Arcelor Mittal (Acesita) and Usiminas, are located there. The largest open-pit mine in the world is operated in the basin by the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. These industrial conglomerates have an important role in Brazilian exports of iron ore, steel, and cellulose (Cenibra). In addition, the Doce basin contributes greatly to production of coffee from Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo as well as fruit pulp from Espírito Santo.
Fifteen percent of the GDP of the state of Minas Gerais is produced in the region with the municipality of Ipatinga accounting for 5.4% of that total. Ipatinga is the major city of the Vale do Aço Metropolitan Area.
The economy of the basin is based on the following activities: # agriculture: dairy and beef cattle, pig raising, coffee, sugar cane, fruits and vegetables and cocoa; # industry: siderurgy, metallurgy, mechanical, chemical, food, alcohol, textile, leather, paper and paper pulp; and # mining: iron, gold, bauxite, manganese, and precious stones.
thumb|The Doce flowing through Governador Valadares
According to the Anuário Estatístico do Brasil (IBGE) the Doce basin has a population of about 3,100,000, with the urban population making up 68.7% of the total population. In recent years the population has declined, with small towns and rural areas losing up to 40% of their population.
Major cities located along the Doce or in its basin are: Timóteo, Coronel Fabriciano, Ipatinga, Governador Valadares, Colatina, and Linhares.
[[Image:Panorâmica Ponte Queimada e Rio Doce MG.jpg|thumb|left|810px|Panorama of the Queimada Bridge over the Doce River, boundary of the Rio Doce State Park, between Marliéria and Pingo-d'Água]] {{-}}
==Climate== According to the Koppen classification, there are three climatic types in the Doce basin: *Tropical with altitude climate with summer rains and cool summers, present on the slopes of the Mantiqueira and the Espinhaço Mountains and at the sources of the Doce river. *Tropical with altitude climate with summer rains and hot summers, present at the sources of its tributaries. *Hot climate with summer rains, present in the middle and lower sections of the Doce and its tributaries.
== Demographics == [[File:Rio Doce entre Caratinga e Santana do Paraíso MG.JPG|thumb|right|Doce River seen from the Metal Bridge, a stretch of BR-458, between Caratinga and Santana do Paraíso.]] [[File:Orla sul do Rio Doce em Resplendor MG vista da orla norte.JPG|thumb|right|Doce River in Resplendor]] According to the Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce (CBH-Doce), the Doce River basin covers all or part of 229 municipalities, of which 203 are in Minas Gerais and 26 in Espírito Santo. Of the total, 211 have their municipal seat located in the basin area,<ref name="Consórcio2010_109">{{Harvnb|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|p=109}}</ref> which has a population of more than 3.6 million inhabitants.<ref name="ANA2016_6a7">{{Harvnb|ANA|2016|pp=6–7}}</ref> The number of municipalities varies according to the source, and the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (ANA) considers 225 municipalities.<ref name="ANA2016_6a7"/> The most populous are Governador Valadares and Ipatinga, both in Minas Gerais, which together concentrate over 540,000 inhabitants.<ref name="IBGE_Pop">{{cite web |url=https://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Estimativas_de_Populacao/Estimativas_2021/estimativa_dou_2021.pdf |title=Estimativas da população residente no Brasil e Unidades da Federação com data de referência em 1º de julho de 2021 |trans-title=Estimates of the resident population in Brazil and the Federative Units with reference date of July 1, 2021 |author=Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) |date=27 August 2021 |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref> Other municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants are Coronel Fabriciano, Itabira, and Ubá in Minas Gerais and Colatina, Linhares, and São Mateus in Espírito Santo.<ref name="IBGE_Pop"/>
A total of 38 municipalities are bathed by the Doce River, considering it from the confluence of the Piranga and Carmo rivers onward, 34 of them in Minas Gerais<ref>{{cite report |author=Centro Nacional de Gerenciamento de Riscos e Desastres (CENAD) |date=7 November 2015 |title=Relatório – Estado de Minas Gerais – Município de Mariana |trans-title=Report – State of Minas Gerais – Municipality of Mariana |page=10 |publisher=Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |url=https://www.cbhdoce.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Relat%C3%B3rio-MG-Presidencia-151107.pdf |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> and four in Espírito Santo.<ref>{{cite report |author=Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Ibama) |date=8 September 2016 |title=Nota Técnica nº 01 da Câmara Técnica de Segurança Hídrica e Qualidade de Água – CT-SHQA instituída pelo Comitê Interfederativo – CIF |trans-title=Technical Note No. 01 of the Technical Chamber for Water Security and Water Quality – CT-SHQA established by the Interfederative Committee – CIF |pages=1, 4 |url=https://www.ibama.gov.br/phocadownload/cif/notas-tecnicas/CT-SHQA/2017/NT-01_2016-CT-SHQA-Sanitario_residuos_solidos.pdf |access-date=2 June 2022}}</ref> Of these, Ipatinga, Governador Valadares, Colatina, and Linhares are the most populous cities on the banks.<ref name="ANA2016_6a7"/><ref name="IBGE_Pop"/> However, the municipalities of Coronel Fabriciano, Ipatinga, Santana do Paraíso, and Timóteo make up the Vale do Aço Metropolitan Region, which is the greatest population concentration in the basin.<ref name="Consórcio2010_35a36">{{Harvnb|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=35–36}}</ref> Together with its metropolitan collar the cities form a network of more than 778,000 inhabitants, according to 2021 estimates.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.diariodoaco.com.br/noticia/0061764-municipios-do-vale-do-aco-tem-populacao-estimada-pelo-ibge-em-766239-pessoas |title=Região Metropolitana do Vale do Aço alcança marca de 505.358 habitantes |trans-title=Vale do Aço Metropolitan Region reaches the mark of 505,358 inhabitants |author=Jornal Diário do Aço |date=31 August 2021 |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref> Of the total residents of the Doce River basin, about 70% inhabit urban areas.<ref name="Consórcio2010_35a36"/> The concentration in urban areas is directly linked to the rural exodus generated by the process of industrialization and development of the main cities,<ref name="UFESDesnaturalização_41a44">{{Harvnb|Dallapicola|2015|pp=41–44}}</ref><ref name="Consórcio2010_35a36"/><ref name="Unievangélica_193">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2015|p=193}}</ref> but more than 100 municipalities still have a rural population larger than the urban one.<ref name="Consórcio2010_35a36"/> The most important federal highways crossing the region are BR-381, BR-116, BR-262, BR-101, BR-259, and BR-458.<ref name="Consórcio2010_35a36"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2016/11/29/interna_gerais,828203/temporais-fizeram-mais-de-1-2-mil-pessoas-deixarem-as-casas-em-minas.shtml |title=Temporais fizeram mais de 1,2 mil pessoas deixarem as casas em Minas |trans-title=Storms made more than 1,200 people leave their homes in Minas Gerais |author=João Henrique do Vale |date=29 November 2016 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref>
About 51% of all water extracted directly from the Doce River basin is intended for irrigation, 22% for urban supply, 17% for industries, 7% for animal watering, and 4% for rural supply.<ref name="Consórcio2010_366">{{Harvnb|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|p=366}}</ref> According to 2010 information, the total exploited to meet demands is equivalent to 29.733 cubic meters per second (m³/s),<ref name="Consórcio2010_437a438">{{Harvnb|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=437–438}}</ref> a value that was considered to be within the limits of the United Nations (UN), comparing it with availability.<ref name="Consórcio2010_389a390">{{Harvnb|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=389–390}}</ref> However, the demand for human and industrial consumption is significantly increasing,<ref name="Consórcio2010_437a438"/> at the same time that ever more intense droughts and environmental degradation have reduced water availability.<ref name="EstadodeMinas_Estiagem">{{cite web |url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2021/09/06/interna_gerais,1302792/estudo-mostra-como-degradacao-da-natureza-e-estiagem-tem-afetado-rios-de-mg.shtml |title=Estudo mostra como degradação da natureza e estiagem têm afetado rios de MG |trans-title=Study shows how environmental degradation and drought have affected rivers in Minas Gerais |author=Luiz Ribeiro |date=6 September 2021 |website=Estado de Minas |access-date=13 April 2022 }}</ref><ref name="AGazeta_2030">{{cite web|url=https://www.agazeta.com.br/editorial/com-estiagem-rio-doce-volta-a-pedir-socorro-0821 |title=Com estiagem, Rio Doce volta a pedir socorro |trans-title=With drought, the Doce River cries for help again |author=A Gazeta |date=18 August 2021 |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref> The sub-basin of the Santa Joana River, in Espírito Santo, already shows a situation classified as "concerning".<ref name="Consórcio2010_389a390"/>
=== Direct use of the waters === [[File:Itapina.jpg|thumb|left|View of Itapina, a district of Colatina, from a ferry on the river.]] Fishing is still present in the Doce River, although the fish population of some species has decreased over time due to the impacts caused by human action.<ref name="PeixeLisboa_101a112">{{Harvnb|Rosado Alves|2020|pp=101–112}}</ref> The watercourse makes it possible to practice this activity both professionally and recreationally,<ref name="Consórcio2010_106">{{Harvnb|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|p=106}}</ref> but the practice of fish farming has been expanded and encouraged as an alternative to predatory fishing, given that it favors the development of fish in the river.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uaiagro.com.br/pescadores-se-tornam-piscicultores-no-vale-do-rio-doce/ |title=Pescadores se tornam piscicultores no Vale do Rio Doce |trans-title=Fishers become fish farmers in the Doce River valley |author=Washington Bonifácio |date=24 August 2021 |website=Uai Agro |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref> During the piracema period, which normally runs from November 1 to February 28, restrictions are applied to favor the movement of fish to the headwaters to reproduce, for example with a limit of three kilograms and limitation to some exotic species.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drd.com.br/piracema-tem-inicio-com-proibicao-de-pesca-de-especies-nativas-em-minas/ |title=Piracema tem início com proibição de pesca de espécies nativas em Minas |trans-title=Piracema begins with prohibition on fishing native species in Minas Gerais |author=Jornal Diário do Rio Doce |date=3 November 2019 |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref>
Throughout the Doce River basin, there were 1699 people aged ten years or older occupied with fishing and 216 with fish farming, distributed across 39 and 19 municipalities, respectively, in 2010.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Paulo Viana |first=João |year=2017 |title=As atividades de pesca e aquicultura na bacia do Rio Doce: subsídios para a mitigação dos impactos socioeconômicos do desastre da Samarco em Mariana, Minas Gerais |trans-title=Fishing and aquaculture activities in the Doce River basin: subsidies for mitigating the socioeconomic impacts of the Samarco disaster in Mariana, Minas Gerais |pages=104–105 |journal=Boletim regional, urbano e ambiental |issue=16 |publisher=Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (Ipea) |url=http://repositorio.ipea.gov.br/bitstream/11058/7937/1/BRU_n16_Atividades.pdf |access-date=2 June 2022}}</ref> In addition to fishing, the waters of the watercourse are used for leisure by riverside populations, for example for swimming and for the practice of surfing<ref name="Veja_Surfe">{{cite web|url=https://veja.abril.com.br/ciencia/chuvas-em-mg-surfistas-aproveitam-cheia-do-rio-doce-para-pegar-onda/ |title=Chuvas em MG: surfistas aproveitam cheia do Rio Doce para pegar onda |trans-title=Rains in Minas Gerais: surfers take advantage of the Doce River flood to catch waves |author=Veja |date=31 January 2020 |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref> and canoeing in rapids,<ref name="Veja_Surfe"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ge.globo.com/mg/grande-minas-vales/noticia/2014/08/valadares-recebe-segunda-etapa-da-copa-brasil-de-canoagem.html |title=Valadares recebe a segunda etapa da Copa Brasil de Canoagem |trans-title=Valadares hosts the second stage of the Brazil Canoeing Cup |author=globoesporte.com |date=15 August 2014 |access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref> but excess pollutants are a health risk<ref name="Veja_Surfe"/> and drownings occasionally occur.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2018/08/15/interna_gerais,980468/bombeiros-encontram-corpo-de-terceira-vitima-de-afogamento-no-rio-doce.shtml |title=Bombeiros encontram corpo de terceira vítima de afogamento no Rio Doce |trans-title=Firefighters find body of third drowning victim in the Doce River |author=Cristiane Silva |date=15 August 2018 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2020/09/14/interna_gerais,1185310/valadares-corpo-de-jovem-que-se-afogou-no-rio-doce-continua-desaparec.shtml |title=Valadares: corpo de jovem que se afogou no Rio Doce continua desaparecido |trans-title=Valadares: body of young man who drowned in the Doce River remains missing |author=Tim Filho |date=15 September 2020 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref> Another form of use is for informal transport in ferryboats and canoes between nearby localities, so as to shorten land routes, but the proliferation of sandbanks during prolonged droughts occasionally compromises the journeys.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hojeemdia.com.br/minas/baixo-nivel-do-rio-doce-compromete-transporte-de-passageiros-em-balsas-1.326314 |title=Baixo nível do Rio Doce compromete transporte de passageiros em balsas |trans-title=Low level of the Doce River compromises passenger transport on ferries |author=Ana Lúcia Gonçalves |date=15 October 2015 |website=Jornal Hoje em Dia |access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref>
After being dominated and exterminated by the colonizers, the Aimorés, whose dominion originally extended over the extreme south of Bahia, the north of Espírito Santo, and the east of Minas Gerais, were restricted to about 630 individuals spread throughout Brazil according to 2017 data. Of this total, approximately 430 are Krenaks who inhabit an area demarcated as an indigenous land on the left bank of the Doce River in Resplendor.<ref name="UFMGBorum_45a47">{{Harvnb|Moreira|2020|pp=45–47}}</ref> They depend on the river for survival, since they use it for supply, irrigation, leisure, rituals, and fishing, although these activities were compromised by the Mariana dam disaster in 2015.<ref name="Época_Indígenas">{{cite web|url=https://oglobo.globo.com/epoca/sociedade/lutamos-contra-mineracao-ha-200-anos-diz-indigena-que-vive-as-margens-do-rio-doce-23878269 |title='Lutamos contra a mineração há 200 anos', diz indígena que vive às margens do Rio Doce |trans-title='We have fought against mining for 200 years,' says indigenous person who lives on the banks of the Doce River |author=Época |date=15 August 2019 |website=O Globo |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://casavogue.globo.com/Design/Sustentabilidade/noticia/2020/06/ninguem-mais-pesca-nem-caca-nada-aqui-pessoas-cultivam-com-medo-conta-o-lider-indigena-krenak-sobre-vida-beira-do-rio-doce.html |title='Ninguém mais pesca nem caça nada aqui. As pessoas cultivam com medo', conta o líder indígena Krenak, sobre a vida à beira do Rio Doce |trans-title='Nobody fishes or hunts anything here anymore. People cultivate in fear,' says the Krenak indigenous leader, about life on the banks of the Doce River |author=Hudson Correia |date=4 June 2020 |website=Casa Vogue |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref>
== Ecology and environment == === Degradation === At the same time that the area covered by native forest is broken up into isolated non-devastated patches,<ref name="ANA2016_8a9">{{Harvnb|ANA|2016|pp=8–9}}</ref> the Doce River and its tributaries are heavily affected by pollution generated by waste arising from the activities of local industries,<ref name="UFV_Erosão">{{cite web |url=http://www.atlasdasaguas.ufv.br/doce/impacto_ambiental_relevante_na_bacia_do_rio_doce_em_minas_gerais.html |title=Erosão, o inimigo silencioso do rio Doce |trans-title=Erosion, the silent enemy of the Doce River |author=Atlas Digital das Águas de Minas |date=2010 |website=Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) |access-date=14 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2017-12/desastre-com-barragem-acordou-monstro-de-poluentes-no-rio-doce-diz-perito |title=Desastre com barragem acordou "monstro" de poluentes no Rio Doce, diz perito |trans-title=Dam disaster awakened a "monster" of pollutants in the Doce River, says expert |author=Luiz Cláudio Ferreira |date=16 December 2017 |website=Agência Brasil |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> urban sewage,<ref name="Terra_Poluição">{{cite web|url=http://noticias.terra.com.br/infograficos/riospoluidos/parallax/rio-doce.htm |title=As águas poluídas do Brasil – rio Doce |trans-title=Brazil's polluted waters – Doce River |author=Terra |date=4 June 2014 |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> rampant deforestation, mining, and excessive manipulation of its waters.<ref name="UFV_Erosão"/><ref name="SOS_Mariana">{{cite web |url=https://www.sosma.org.br/noticias/05-anos-do-desastre-de-mariana-bacia-do-rio-doce-sofre-desmatamento-de-1-857-hectares-de-mata-atlantica-entre-2018-e-2019/ |title=05 anos do desastre de Mariana: bacia do rio Doce sofre desmatamento de 1.857 hectares de Mata Atlântica entre 2018 e 2019 |trans-title=Five years after the Mariana disaster: the Doce River basin lost 1,857 hectares of Atlantic Forest between 2018 and 2019 |author=Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica |date=5 November 2020 |website=Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica |access-date=14 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415020750/https://www.sosma.org.br/noticias/05-anos-do-desastre-de-mariana-bacia-do-rio-doce-sofre-desmatamento-de-1-857-hectares-de-mata-atlantica-entre-2018-e-2019/ |archive-date=15 April 2022 }}</ref> Industrial and urban contamination, associated with the absence of environmental control, made the Doce River the tenth most polluted river in Brazil according to the Social Development Index (IDS) calculated by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2011, therefore even before the dam collapse in Mariana in 2015.<ref name="ABES_Poluídos">{{cite web|url=http://www.abes-mg.org.br/visualizacao-de-clipping/ler/2082/os-rios-mais-poluidos-do-brasil |title=Os rios mais poluídos do Brasil |trans-title=The most polluted rivers in Brazil |author=Associação Brasileira de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental (ABES) |date=29 August 2011 |access-date=13 May 2015}}</ref> In 2014, the basin was identified as the most degraded in Minas Gerais.<ref name="Estadodeminas_Bacia">{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/especiais/nascentes/2014/04/08/noticias-internas-nascentes,516596/rio-doce-que-comeca-a-correr-quase-morto-tem-a-bacia-mais-degradada.shtml |title=Rio Doce, que começa a correr quase morto, tem a bacia mais degradada de Minas |trans-title=The Doce River, which begins to flow almost dead, has the most degraded basin in Minas |author=Mateus Parreiras |date=8 April 2014 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=13 May 2015}}</ref>
==== In the urban context ==== thumb|left|The Doce River crossing the city of Governador Valadares, the most populous municipality in the hydrographic basin. thumb|left|Occupied banks of the Doce River in Colatina According to information from 2019, the Doce River receives the sewage discharged by at least 80% of the cities located on its banks without any type of treatment.<ref name="OTempo_Esgoto">{{cite web|url=https://www.otempo.com.br/capitulos-do-rio-doce/rio-doce-sofre-com-80-do-esgoto-despejado-sem-tratamento-1.2226297 |title=Rio Doce sofre com 80% do esgoto despejado sem tratamento |trans-title=The Doce River suffers from 80% of sewage being discharged without treatment |author=Thiago Nogueira |date=28 August 2019 |website=Jornal O Tempo |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> The same percentage of municipalities in the basin also lack wastewater treatment, and pollution in the tributaries directly affects the main course.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.agazeta.com.br/artigos/recuperacao-do-rio-doce-passa-por-investimentos-em-saneamento-1020 |title=Recuperação do Rio Doce passa por investimentos em saneamento |trans-title=Recovery of the Doce River depends on investments in sanitation |author=A Gazeta |date=21 October 2020 |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|p=428}} In several stretches along the entire watercourse and its tributaries, the presence of pollutants originating from sewage is sufficient to make the waters unsuitable for irrigation and for animal or human consumption,{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|p=246}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.otempo.com.br/cidades/agua-do-rio-doce-e-usada-mas-ainda-gera-desconfianca-1.1539704 |title=Água do rio Doce é usada, mas ainda gera desconfiança |trans-title=Water from the Doce River is used, but still generates distrust |author=Pedro Rocha Franco |date=7 November 2017 |website=Jornal O Tempo |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> a situation that affects the population's living and health conditions and the transmission of diseases.<ref name="OTempo_Esgoto"/>
An analysis commissioned by ''Estado de Minas'', released in April 2014, shows that the waters of the Piranga River had 1200% more fecal coliforms than permitted by the National Council for the Environment (CONAMA) after leaving the city of Ponte Nova and before meeting the Carmo River to form the Doce River. In Ipatinga the concentration was 40% higher than the limit, while in Governador Valadares it reached 240%. At the confluence of the Piranga and Carmo rivers, the presence of thermotolerant coliforms was {{val|5172}}% above the acceptable level.<ref name="Estadodeminas_Bacia"/> Governador Valadares, the most populous city on the Doce River, had all sewage from the urban area discharged into the watercourse without any treatment according to information from 2021,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oolhar.com.br/dia-mundial-da-agua-100-do-esgoto-in-natura-acaba-no-rio-doce-em-valadares/ |title=Dia Mundial da Água: 100% do esgoto in natura ainda acaba no rio Doce em Valadares |trans-title=World Water Day: 100% of raw sewage still ends up in the Doce River in Valadares |author=O Olhar |date=21 March 2021 |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> although treatment plants had been under construction since 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oolhar.com.br/renova-vai-liberar-r-23-milhoes-para-finalizar-ete-valadares/ |title=Renova vai liberar R$ 23 milhões para finalizar ETE em Valadares |trans-title=Renova will release R$ 23 million to finish the sewage treatment plant in Valadares |author=O Olhar |date=9 September 2019 |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> At the same time, the riverbed was the main source of supply for the public network, but a new water intake source was being built from the Corrente Grande River.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obras.valadares.mg.gov.br/detalhe-da-materia/info/comitiva-da-prefeitura-confere-obras-da-nova-captacao-de-agua-nesta-terca-feira-10/118573 |title=Comitiva da Prefeitura confere obras da Nova Captação de Água nesta terça-feira (10) |trans-title=City Hall delegation inspects works on the new water intake this Tuesday (10) |author=Prefeitura de Governador Valadares |date=10 August 2021 |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> Contamination extends as far as the Atlantic Ocean, with records of fecal coliforms in the river mouth region transported through the watercourse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.agazeta.com.br/es/gv/poluido-trecho-da-foz-do-rio-doce-esta-improprio-para-banho-0919 |title=Polluído, trecho da foz do Rio Doce está impróprio para banho |trans-title=Polluted, a stretch of the mouth of the Doce River is unsuitable for bathing |author=Eduardo Dias |date=8 November 2017 |website=A Gazeta |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>
Pollution of the watercourse was aggravated by the long period of irregular rainfall that the region experienced throughout the 2010s,<ref name="FAPESP_Seca">{{cite web |url=https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/2019/07/10/uma-possivel-origem-das-estiagens-de-verao-do-sudeste/ |title=Uma possível origem das estiagens de verão do Sudeste |trans-title=A possible origin of the Southeast’s summer droughts |author=Léo Ramos Chaves |date=8 July 2019 |website=Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) |access-date=13 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209190745/https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/2019/07/10/uma-possivel-origem-das-estiagens-de-verao-do-sudeste/ |archive-date=9 February 2020 }}</ref> leading to a considerable decrease in its average level and the disappearance of springs in the basin.<ref name="EstadodeMinas_Estiagem"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hojeemdia.com.br/minas/seca-no-rio-doce-uma-historia-para-contar-1.280395 |title=Seca no rio Doce, uma história para contar |trans-title=Drought in the Doce River, a story to tell |author=Ana Lúcia Gonçalves |date=17 October 2014 |website=Jornal Hoje em Dia |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> During this drought event, the river reached its lowest level since measurements began to be made,<ref name="HojeemDia_Seca">{{cite web|url=https://www.hojeemdia.com.br/minas/rio-doce-sofre-com-falta-de-agua-e-estiagem-pode-ser-a-pior-da-historia-1.405402 |title=Rio Doce sofre com falta de água e estiagem pode ser a pior da história |trans-title=The Doce River suffers from lack of water and the drought may be the worst in history |author=Paula Coura |date=10 August 2016 |website=Jornal Hoje em Dia |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> but, as noted earlier, average precipitation in the basin area began to decrease in the 1990s.<ref name="FAPESP_Seca"/> Low flow, combined with siltation, contributed to the proliferation of sandbanks and caused localities that depend on the river and its tributaries to face water shortages.<ref name="HojeemDia_Seca"/><ref name="AGazeta_Seca">{{cite web |url=https://www.agazeta.com.br/es/agro/rio-doce-quase-seco-e-avanco-da-crise-hidrica-no-es-assustam-o-agro-1021 |title=Rio Doce quase seco e avanço da crise hídrica no ES assustam o agronegócio |trans-title=The Doce River nearly dry and the worsening water crisis in Espírito Santo alarm agribusiness |author=Vinícius Zagoto |date=6 October 2021 |website=A Gazeta |access-date=13 April 2022 }}</ref> On the other hand, occasional events of intense rainfall rapidly raise the river level and threaten populated zones that were established in risk areas.<ref name="CPRM_Enchentes">{{cite web |url=http://www.cprm.gov.br/alerta/artigos/relatorioalerta2009v1.pdf |title=Relatório técnico da operação do sistema de alerta – período de dezembro de 2008 a abril de 2009 |trans-title=Technical report on the operation of the alert system – period from December 2008 to April 2009 |author=Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais (CPRM) |date=12 April 2009 |pages=1; 5–7 |access-date=13 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311105417/http://www.cprm.gov.br/alerta/artigos/relatorioalerta2009v1.pdf |archive-date=11 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="G1_Enchente2022">{{cite web|url=https://g1.globo.com/mg/vales-mg/noticia/2022/01/12/rio-doce-comeca-a-baixar-de-forma-lenta-em-governador-valadares.ghtml |title=Rio Doce começa a baixar de forma lenta em Governador Valadares |trans-title=The Doce River begins to recede slowly in Governador Valadares |author=G1 |date=12 January 2022 |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>
==== In the socioeconomic context ==== [[File:Trecho alagado do Rio Corrente Grande no reservatório da UHE Baguari entre Periquito e Governador Valadares MG.JPG|thumb|right|Flooded stretch of the Corrente Grande River in the reservoir of the Baguari Hydroelectric Power Plant, between Periquito and Governador Valadares.]] [[File:Cadeia de montanhas Bela Adormecida.jpg|thumb|right|Siltation in Conselheiro Pena, in the middle Doce River.]] Mining activity, concentrated mainly in the basins of the Carmo and Piracicaba rivers, causes a strong silting process in both watercourses that affects the Doce River downstream.<ref name="UFV_Erosão"/> The concentration of minerals and pollutants is also attributed to mining, and the presence of dissolved iron in the waters was 23% above the level accepted by CONAMA at the confluence of the Piranga and Carmo rivers in 2014. In Ipatinga the quantity of manganese was 52% higher than ideal.<ref name="Estadodeminas_Bacia"/> Deforestation and incorrect soil management for farming and ranching, in turn, intensify the erosive process, especially in areas of undulating relief, causing sediments to run off more rapidly toward the basin's watercourses.<ref name="ANA2016_8a9"/><ref name="UnB_2a3">{{Harvnb|Coelho|2006|pp=2–3}}</ref>
Large-scale eucalyptus plantations caused a profound change in the natural landscape, given that these are vast areas occupied by a single planted species.<ref name="Globo_Monoculturas">{{cite web |url=https://umsoplaneta.globo.com/biodiversidade/noticia/2022/02/22/monoculturas-ditam-as-regras-e-encurralam-a-floresta-no-espirito-santo.ghtml |title=Monoculturas ditam as regras e encurralam a floresta no Espírito Santo |trans-title=Monocultures set the rules and corner the forest in Espírito Santo |author=Fernanda Couzemenco |date=22 February 2022 |website=Um Só Planeta |access-date=14 April 2022 }}</ref> This reduced the region's forest ecosystem and increased silting in view of large-scale soil manipulation. In addition, the use of fertilizers and pesticides is necessary to guarantee productivity, while the large quantity of water used by pulp industries depends on the basin's water sources.<ref name="Unesp_Eucalipto">{{cite journal |last1=Lima |first1=Adelso Rocha |last2=Girardi |first2=Eduardo Paulon |last3=Mancio |first3=Daniel |last4=Nunes |first4=Diorgines da Costa |year=2016 |title=Impactos da monocultura de eucalipto sobre a estrutura agrária nas regiões norte e central do Espírito Santo |trans-title=Impacts of eucalyptus monoculture on the agrarian structure in the northern and central regions of Espírito Santo |pages=27–33 |journal=Revista NERA |issue=19 |publisher=Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) |url=https://revista.fct.unesp.br/index.php/nera/article/download/4977/4134 |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> With regard to socioeconomic aspects, the lands occupied by eucalyptus cultivated by large industries cannot be used by local communities, disregarding regional habits and customs and human presence itself.<ref name="Unesp_Eucalipto"/><ref>{{cite report|last=Boratto Viana|first=Maurício |year=2004 |title=O eucalipto e os efeitos ambientais do seu plantio em escala |trans-title=Eucalyptus and the environmental effects of its large-scale planting |publisher=Biblioteca Digital da Câmara dos Deputados |url=http://bd.camara.gov.br/bd/bitstream/handle/bdcamara/1162/eucalipto_efeitos_boratto.pdf |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>
The construction of hydroelectric plants also produced severe changes in the landscape, since the riverbed is dammed.<ref name="Terra_Poluição"/> Upstream from the dams, flooding of the banks occurred, which included native areas and populated zones that had to be resettled.<ref name="Conflitos_Indígenas">{{cite web|url=http://mapadeconflitos.ensp.fiocruz.br/conflito/mg-aimores-cidade-construida-a-beira-do-rio-doce-tem-seu-rio-suprimido-da-paisagem-por-obra-de-grandes-empresas-de-mineracao-e-siderurgia-povo-krenak-sequer-foi-consultado-e-considerado-no-eia-rim/ |title=MG – Povos indígenas, pescadores, ribeirinhos e populações são prejudicados pela Hidrelétrica Aimorés |trans-title=MG – Indigenous peoples, fishers, riverside dwellers, and populations are harmed by the Aimorés Hydroelectric Plant |author=Mapa de Conflitos envolvendo Injustiça Ambiental e Saúde no Brasil |date=17 July 2018 |website=Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> The seat of the city of Itueta had to be completely rebuilt elsewhere, from 1999 to 2004, for the implementation of the Aimorés Hydroelectric Power Plant on the course of the Doce River.<ref name="ISTOÉ_Itueta">{{cite web |url=http://www.istoe.com.br/reportagens/2086_ESTA+CIDADE+VAI+DESAPARECER |title=Esta cidade vai desaparecer |trans-title=This city will disappear |author=Priscila Gorzoni |date=16 February 2005 |website=ISTOÉ |access-date=17 April 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Downstream, in turn, the level of the watercourse was abruptly reduced due to water retention.<ref name="Terra_Poluição"/> Because of channelization, the riverbed also ceased to bathe the seat of Aimorés, which is located where the right bank of the Doce River used to be. A reduction in the number of fish was also observed in the area covered by this power plant, generating food insecurity for the Krenak people and for fishers who depend on the river.<ref name="Conflitos_Indígenas"/>
==== Environmental disaster in 2015 ==== {{Main|Mariana dam disaster}} [[File:Águas do Rio Doce com a lama da barragem da Samarco, Galileia MG.jpg|thumb|left|Muddy waters in the Doce River in Galileia, Minas Gerais, in November 2015, as a consequence of the dam failure in Mariana.]] thumb|The village of Bento Rodrigues after the disaster
The watercourse was severely affected by the collapse of a tailings dam (a mine dam holding back toxic waste water from an iron ore mine) owned and operated by the mining company Samarco (which is a joint venture between Vale S.A. and BHP Billiton) that occurred in Mariana, Minas Gerais on November 5, 2015.<ref name="UFMG_Maiordesastre"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.ufjf.br/noticias/2016/01/14/recuperacao-do-rio-doce-requer-tratamento-de-esgoto-e-recomposicao-de-matas-ciliares/ |title=Recuperação do Rio Doce requer tratamento de esgoto e recomposição de matas ciliares |trans-title=Recovery of the Doce River requires sewage treatment and restoration of riparian forests |author=Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF) |date=January 14, 2016 |website=Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora |access-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref> The mud burst from the mining tailings dam first reached the Gualaxo do Norte River, then after 48 km it reached the Carmo River and 22 km downstream it flowed into the point where this river meets the Piranga River to form the Doce River.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2017-11/tragedia-de-mariana-moradores-sofrem-com-depressao-e-outros-problemas-de-saude |title=Tragédia de Mariana: moradores sofrem com depressão e outros problemas de saúde |trans-title=Mariana tragedy: residents suffer from depression and other health problems |author=Sumaia Villela |date=3 November 2017 |website=Agência Brasil |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="Governo_Recuperação">{{cite web|url=http://www.brasil.gov.br/recuperacao-da-bacia-do-rio-doce/perguntas-e-respostas |title=Recuperação da Bacia do Rio Doce – perguntas e respostas |trans-title=Recovery of the Doce River Basin – questions and answers |author=Governo do Brasil |date=18 December 2018 |access-date=18 April 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
A total of 19 people died and 50 suffered injuries in the tragedy, and the nearby localities of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo, downstream from the dam, in Mariana, were totally destroyed by the mudflow.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/radioagencia-nacional/meio-ambiente/audio/2021-11/tragedia-em-mariana-completa-6-anos-sem-nenhuma-punicao-criminal |title=Tragédia em Mariana completa 6 anos sem nenhuma punição criminal |trans-title=Tragedy in Mariana completes 6 years without any criminal punishment |author=Lucas Pordeus Leon |date=5 November 2021 |website=Agência Brasil |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> At the time of the accident there was no mass alert of any kind for the communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2015/11/19/interna_gerais,709526/sirenes-sao-raridade-em-cidades-proximas-a-barragens-de-mineradoras-em.shtml |title=Sirenes são raridade em cidades próximas a barragens de mineradoras em Minas Gerais |trans-title=Sirens are rare in cities near mining dams in Minas Gerais |author=Guilherme Paranaiba e Sandra Kiefer |date=19 November 2015 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref>
In addition, the tailings mud that invaded the Doce River over the following days and weeks made municipalities supplied by the watercourse unable to use its water, including Governador Valadares, which declared a state of public disaster.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2015/11/10/interna_gerais,706546/governador-valadares-decreta-estado-de-calamidade-por-causa-de-poluica.shtml |title=Governador Valadares decreta estado de calamidade por causa de poluição do Rio Doce |trans-title=Governador Valadares decrees a state of calamity because of pollution in the Doce River |author=João Henrique do Vale e Guilherme Paranaiba |date=10 November 2015 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> The waters were contaminated by high levels of elements such as arsenic, manganese, lead, aluminium, and iron.<ref name="G1_Colatina"/> Because of the contamination, entire communities became dependent on water trucks, rotational distribution, and donations of bottled drinking water from other municipalities for more than a month,<ref name="G1_Colatina">{{cite web|url=https://g1.globo.com/espirito-santo/desastre-ambiental-no-rio-doce/noticia/2015/12/samarco-suspende-distribuicao-de-agua-em-colatina-es.html |title=Samarco suspende distribuição de água em Colatina, ES |trans-title=Samarco suspends water distribution in Colatina, ES |author=Carla Sá e Leandro Nossa |date=17 December 2015 |website=G1 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://brasil.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,uber-coleta-doacoes-de-agua-para-governador-valadares,10000002132 |title=Uber faz corridas para arrecadar doações de água a cidades de MG |trans-title=Uber makes trips to collect water donations for cities in MG |author=O Estado de S. Paulo |date=16 November 2015 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2015/12/03/interna_gerais,713755/municipios-as-margens-do-rio-doce-ainda-sofrem-com-a-escassez-e-qualid.shtml |title=Municípios às margens do Rio Doce ainda sofrem com a escassez e qualidade da água |trans-title=Municipalities on the banks of the Doce River still suffer from water scarcity and quality |author=Jornal Estado de Minas |date=3 December 2015 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2015/12/14/interna_gerais,717176/samarco-assina-acordo-com-mpmg-para-garantir-abastecimento-de-agua-em.shtml |title=Samarco assina acordo com MPMG para garantir abastecimento de água em Galileia |trans-title=Samarco signs agreement with MPMG to guarantee water supply in Galileia |author=Jornal Estado de Minas |date=13 December 2015 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> while the river was already facing a water crisis due to prolonged drought.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2015/11/10/interna_gerais,706095/lama-de-mineracao-acelera-degradacao-do-ja-poluido-rio-doce.shtml |title=Lama de mineração acelera degradação do já poluído Rio Doce |trans-title=Mining sludge accelerates degradation of the already polluted Doce River |author=Renan Damasceno e Guilherme Paranaiba |date=10 November 2015 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> The tailings of toxic brown mudflows reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later, on November 22.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.terra.com.br/noticias/brasil/vazamento-de-lama-e-residuos-minerais-chega-ao-oceano-atlantico,5807afdedcc4a0212649eeee5e178a6br90b2owa.html |title=Vazamento de lama e resíduos chega ao oceano Atlântico |trans-title=Leak of mud and mineral residues reaches the Atlantic Ocean |author=Terra |date=22 November 2015 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="uol-worstenvirodistaster">{{cite news |url=http://tvuol.uol.com.br/video/boechat-mariana-e-a-maior-tragedia-ambiental-do-brasil-04024C9B3162DCB15326 |title=Boechat: Mariana é a maior tragédia ambiental do Brasil |work=TV UOL |date=9 November 2015 |accessdate=30 November 2015 |language=Portuguese}}</ref><ref name="redeangola">{{cite news |url=http://www.redeangola.info/sebastiao-salgado-tem-proposta-para-ajudar-regiao-afectada-pela-maior-tragedia-ambiental-do-brasil/ |title=Acidente na barragem de Samarco é "a maior tragédia ambiental" do Brasil |work=Rede Angola |date=21 November 2015 |accessdate=30 November 2015 |language=Portuguese}}</ref><ref name="elpais">{{cite news |url=http://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2015/11/17/politica/1447769155_684355.html |title=Sebastião Salgado: "É a maior tragédia ambiental do Brasil. Mas tem solução" |work=El País |date=19 November 2015 |accessdate=30 November 2015 |language=Portuguese}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera-reachesatlantic">{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/brazil-dam-bursts-toxic-sludge-151122125732943.html |title=Toxic sludge reaches Atlantic after Brazil dams burst |work=Al Jazeera |date=22 November 2015 |accessdate=30 November 2015 |author=Rifai, Ryan}}</ref>
thumb|right|Image of the mouth of the Doce River in the Atlantic Ocean, weeks after the disaster in Mariana.
The dam collapse caused an enormous ecological damage,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/88aadd52-882d-11e5-8a12-b0ce506400af.html |title=Brazil mine disaster: firm faces $5.2bn bill as anger rises over pollution |work=Financial Times |date=13 November 2015 |access-date=23 November 2015}}</ref> and threatened life along the Doce River and the Atlantic Ocean near its mouth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/nov/22/anger-rises-as-brazilian-mine-disaster-threatens-river-and-sea-with-toxic-mud |access-date=23 November 2015 |title=Anger rises as Brazilian mine disaster threatens river and sea with toxic mud |website=The Guardian |date=22 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/brasilien-rohstoffkonzerne-muessen-21-milliarden-euro-strafe-fuer-dammbruch-von-bento-rodrigues-zahlen-a-0421acac-d3ca-477e-8363-2f888a37e485 |title=Brasilien: Rohstoffkonzerne müssen 21 Milliarden Euro Strafe für Dammbruch von Bento Rodrigues zahlen |website=Der Spiegel |language=de |access-date=February 24, 2026}}</ref> In all, 1469 h of land were also affected in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.<ref name="G1_Mariana"/> About {{convert|40|e6m3|sigfig=2|abbr=off|lk=in}} of iron waste flowed into the river.
This environmental disaster left short-, medium-, and long-term impacts caused by the accumulation of heavy metals in the water and soil, in addition to the marks in the memory of the affected communities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.agazeta.com.br/es/cotidiano/seis-anos-apos-desastre-rio-doce-ainda-sofre-impactos-da-lama-no-es-1121 |title=Seis anos após desastre, Rio Doce ainda sofre impactos da lama no ES |trans-title=Six years after the disaster, the Doce River still suffers impacts from the mud in Espírito Santo |author=Viviane Maciel |date=November 5, 2021 |website=A Gazeta |access-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref> In January 2022, Governador Valadares recorded its third-largest flood up to that point, surpassed only by the floods of 1979 and 1997.<ref name="G1_Enchente2022"/>
Economic activities, such as fishing and tourism, were completely harmed by the arrival of the mud.<ref name="G1_6anos">{{cite web|url=https://g1.globo.com/es/espirito-santo/noticia/2021/11/05/desastre-ambiental-6-anos-apos-rompimento-de-barragem-pesca-continua-proibida-na-foz-do-rio-doce.ghtml |title=Desastre ambiental: 6 anos após rompimento de barragem, pesca continua proibida na foz do Rio Doce |trans-title=Environmental disaster: 6 years after dam collapse, fishing remains prohibited at the mouth of the Doce River |author=Eduardo Dias |date=5 November 2021 |website=G1 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> The impacts on the ichthyic fauna are still not fully known,<ref name="PeixeLisboa_28">{{Harvnb|Rosado Alves|2020|p=28}}</ref> but it is known that practically all fish in the upper Doce River that were affected died.<ref name="BBC_Desastre">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-41873660 |title=Após dois anos, impacto ambiental do desastre em Mariana ainda não é totalmente conhecido |trans-title=After two years, the environmental impact of the Mariana disaster is still not fully known |author=Camilla Veras Mota |date=5 November 2017 |website=BBC Brasil |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> One month after the tragedy at least eleven tons of fish had been collected throughout the entire watercourse.<ref name="G1_Mariana">{{cite web|url=https://g1.globo.com/espirito-santo/desastre-ambiental-no-rio-doce/noticia/2015/12/barragem-que-rompeu-ha-1-mes-traz-mar-de-lama-e-prejuizos-para-o-es.html |title=Lama deixa 1,4 mil pescadores sem renda e mata 3 t de peixes no ES |trans-title=Mud leaves 1,400 fishers without income and kills 3 tons of fish in ES |author=Viviane Machado |date=5 December 2015 |website=G1 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> In the ocean the sediments traveled about 250 km north of the mouth of the Doce River<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographicbrasil.com/meio-ambiente/2019/02/lama-toxica-poluicao-barragem-fundao-samarco-mariana-abrolhos |title=Lama tóxica da barragem de Mariana contaminou corais de Abrolhos, diz novo estudo |trans-title=Toxic mud from the Mariana dam contaminated Abrolhos corals, says new study |author=Kevin Damásio |date=21 February 2019 |website=National Geographic Brasil |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> and were recorded in the archipelago of Abrolhos in June 2016, reaching an area with an important set of marine ecosystems and coral reefs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2019/09/06/interna_gerais,1082718/estudo-mostra-que-lama-de-desastre-de-mariana-chegou-a-abrolhos.shtml |title=Estudo mostra que lama de desastre de Mariana chegou a Abrolhos |trans-title=Study shows that mud from the Mariana disaster reached Abrolhos |author=Estadão |date=6 September 2019 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> It is thus considered the industrial disaster that caused the greatest environmental impact in Brazilian history and the largest in the world involving tailings dams, with a discharged volume of more than 55 million cubic meters.<ref name="UFMG_Maiordesastre">{{cite journal |last1=Silva |first1=Danielle Letícia da |last2=Ferreira |first2=Matteus Carvalho |last3=Scotti |first3=Maria Rita |year=2015 |title=O maior desastre ambiental brasileiro: de Mariana (MG) a Regência (ES) |trans-title=The greatest Brazilian environmental disaster: from Mariana (MG) to Regência (ES) |publisher=Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) |journal=Arquivos do Museu de História Natural e Jardim Botânico |volume=24 |issue=1/2 |pages=137–138 |url=https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/mhnjb/article/view/6264/3853 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref>
Samarco resumed operations in Mariana in December 2020, at a time when no one had been tried for what had happened, no house had been delivered as compensation, and environmental recovery was still unfinished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://g1.globo.com/mg/minas-gerais/noticia/2020/12/11/cinco-anos-apos-rompimento-de-barragem-prefeito-de-mariana-anuncia-retomada-das-atividades-da-samarco.ghtml |title=Samarco retoma atividades em Mariana 5 anos após tragédia que matou 19 pessoas |trans-title=Samarco resumes activities in Mariana 5 years after tragedy that killed 19 people |author=Thais Pimentel |date=11 December 2020 |website=G1 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> Over the years the contamination caused by the accident decreased,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Freitas de Oliveira |first1=Lara Luiza |last2=Santos |first2=Hélio Batista dos |last3=Thomé |first3=Ralph Gruppi |last4=Chequer |first4=Farah Maria Drumond |year=2021 |title=Efeitos tóxicos à saúde humana e ao ambiente causados pelo derramamento de rejeitos de minério da barragem de Fundão |trans-title=Toxic effects on human health and the environment caused by the spill of ore tailings from the Fundão dam |pages=5–6 |journal=Journal of Health & Biological Sciences |doi=10.12662/2317-3076jhbs.v9i1.3535.p1-17.2021 |volume=9 |issue=1 |publisher=Centro Universitário Christus (Unichristus) |url=https://periodicos.unichristus.edu.br/jhbs/article/download/3535/1517 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> but six years later, in 2021, metals such as iron and aluminium were present in the watercourse at levels higher than before.<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Neiva |first=Daniel Silva |year=2021 |title=Utilização do Índice de Conformidade ao Enquadramento para análise da qualidade das águas em estações da sub-bacia do rio Piranga antes e após o rompimento da barragem de Fundão |trans-title=Use of the Water Quality Compliance Index to analyze water quality at stations in the Piranga River sub-basin before and after the Fundão dam collapse |pages=57–58 |publisher=Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP) |url=https://monografias.ufop.br/bitstream/35400000/3888/1/MONOGRAFIA_Utiliza%C3%A7%C3%A3o%C3%8DndiceConformidade.pdf |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> The estuary of the Doce River still had a manganese concentration nine times higher than normal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seculodiario.com.br/meio-ambiente/rejeitos-aumentaram-em-nove-vezes-concentracao-de-manganes-no-estuario-do-rio-doce |title=Rejeitos aumentaram em nove vezes concentração de manganês no estuário do Rio Doce |trans-title=Tailings increased manganese concentration in the Doce River estuary ninefold |author=Fernanda Couzemenco |date=7 April 2021 |website=Século Diário |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> The impacts on the soil caused by metal intrusion also remained, limiting the reestablishment of vegetation and the ecosystem.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Vicente |first1=Natália Maria de Freitas |last2=Sperber |first2=Carlos Frankl |last3=Carbone Carneiro |first3=Marco Aurélio |year=2021 |title=Dia D do rio Doce: Um olhar científico sobre o maior desastre ambiental do Brasil |trans-title=Doce River D-Day: A scientific look at Brazil's greatest environmental disaster |publisher=Editora UFLA |edition=1 |location=Lavras-MG |isbn=978-65-86561-16-6 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Angelo-Bernardino/publication/354293688_PROCESSOS_BIOGEOQUIMICOS_NO_ESTUARIO_DO_RIO_DOCE_APOS_O_ROMPIMENTO_DA_BARRAGEM_DE_FUNDAO_EM_MARIANA-MG/links/612fb98dc69a4e487972d989/PROCESSOS-BIOGEOQUIMICOS-NO-ESTUARIO-DO-RIO-DOCE-APOS-O-ROMPIMENTO-DA-BARRAGEM-DE-FUNDAO-EM-MARIANA-MG.pdf |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref>
=== Treatment and conservation === [[File:Parque Estadual do Rio Doce - Rio Doce visto debaixo da Ponte Queimada.jpg|thumb|left|Waters of the Doce River amid riparian forest on the boundaries of the Rio Doce State Park, near Ponte Queimada.]] According to data relating to 2010, only 10% of the cities in the Doce River basin had some type of treatment for their urban sewage. Among them, Catas Altas, Ipatinga, Itabira, Rio Doce, and São José do Goiabal in Minas Gerais and Rio Bananal and São Gabriel da Palha in Espírito Santo were the only ones to treat 100% of the effluent.{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=243–246}} By 2022, 44 municipalities in the basin, approximately 20% of the total of 229, treated at least 30% of wastewater. Annually an average of 295 million cubic meters (m3) of sewage is collected, but only 8.3% of this amount is treated before being discharged into watercourses. At the same time, sewage collection and treatment services simultaneously covered 23.5% of the population of the drainage area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbhpiracicabamg.org.br/noticias/o-dia-da-agua-e-as-questoes-de-saneamento-na-bacia-hidrografica-do-rio-doce |title=O Dia da Água e as questões de saneamento na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |trans-title=World Water Day and sanitation issues in the Doce River Hydrographic Basin |author=Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Piracicaba |date=22 March 2022 |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref>
The Doce River has several water quality monitoring stations, managed by the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency and by the Minas Gerais Water Management Institute (IGAM), with regular analyses of physicochemical and biological parameters. Monitoring was intensified after the Mariana dam accident in 2015.<ref name="BBC_Desastre"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.igam.mg.gov.br/monitoramento-da-qualidade-das-aguas2/monitoramento-da-qualidade-das-aguas-superficiais-do-rio-doce-no-estado-de-minas-gerais |title=Monitoramento da Qualidade das Águas Superficiais do Rio Doce no Estado de Minas Gerais |trans-title=Monitoring of surface water quality of the Doce River in the state of Minas Gerais |author=Instituto Mineiro de Gestão de Águas (IGAM) |date=28 January 2021 |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> As a compensatory measure for the Mariana dam collapse in 2015, there was a Termo de Ajuste de Conduta (TAC) agreed between Samarco, Vale, BHP Billiton, and the federal, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo governments that created the Fundação Renova. It is a nonprofit organization whose objective is to repair the damage caused by the accident.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oglobo.globo.com/economia/conselho-da-fundacao-renova-responsavel-por-recuperar-rio-doce-tem-primeira-reuniao-19904505 |title=Conselho da Fundação Renova responsável por recuperar rio Doce tem primeira reunião |trans-title=The council of Fundação Renova, responsible for recovering the Doce River, holds its first meeting |agency=Reuters |date=11 August 2016 |website=O Globo |access-date=27 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2016/12/28/interna_gerais,835555/periodo-chuvoso-gera-plano-de-emergencia-para-bacia-do-rio-doce.shtml |title=Período chuvoso gera plano de emergência para bacia do Rio Doce |trans-title=Rainy season creates emergency plan for the Doce River basin |author=Jornal Estado de Minas |date=28 December 2016 |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref>
In addition to dealing with compensation and the construction of houses for residents who lost their homes,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.otempo.com.br/cidades/com-r-11-8-bi-fundacao-renova-construiu-apenas-cinco-casas-no-novo-bento-1.2452202 |title=Com R$ 11,8 bi, Fundação Renova construiu apenas cinco casas no 'novo Bento' |trans-title=With R$ 11.8 billion, Fundação Renova built only five houses in 'new Bento' |author=Lara Alves |date=26 February 2021 |website=Jornal O Tempo |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> Fundação Renova became responsible for the environmental recovery of the affected area. In this sense, the entity allocated resources to municipalities for the construction of sewage treatment plants and maintenance of sanitation systems in the Doce River basin.<ref name="OTempo_Esgoto"/> It also claims to work on the recovery of 5000 springs and 40,000 hectares of areas degraded by extensive cattle raising, mining, deforestation, and fires.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://veja.abril.com.br/coluna/radar/fundacao-abre-edital-para-recuperacao-ambiental-na-bacia-do-rio-doce/ |title=Fundação abre edital para recuperação ambiental na bacia do Rio Doce |trans-title=Foundation opens bidding notice for environmental recovery in the Doce River basin |author=Laísa Dall'Agnol |date=2 December 2021 |website=Veja |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> However, as already noted, compensation and environmental recovery have been marked by delays and low effectiveness was the subject of questions by the Minas Gerais Public Prosecutor's Office (MPMG), which also accused the foundation of misleading advertising.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2021/02/24/interna_gerais,1240697/mpmg-pede-extincao-da-fundacao-renova.shtml |title=MPMG pede extinção da Fundação Renova |trans-title=MPMG calls for the dissolution of Fundação Renova |author=Gabriel Ronan e Matheus Adler |date=24 February 2021 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref>
==== Water management ==== [[File:ETE Ribeirão Ipanema, Ipatinga MG2.JPG|thumb|right|Sewage treatment plant located near the mouth of the Ribeirão Ipanema in the Doce River in Ipatinga]] The Doce River is considered a river of national relevance because it flows through more than one state, as defined in the Federal Constitution. The Doce River Hydrographic Basin Committee (CBH-Doce), established under a resolution of the National Water Resources Council (CNRH) in 2002, is the normative and deliberative body responsible for the water resource management of the basin through mediation among actors in society. It is subordinate to the federal government and is composed of members of public authorities, companies, and civil society. Its functions include monitoring conflicts, promoting basic sanitation, preserving and restoring the basin's water resources, and charging for water use.{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=195–196}}
Subordinate to the Doce River basin committee are six planning units in Minas Gerais, corresponding to the committees of the sub-basins of the Piranga, Piracicaba, Santo Antônio, Suaçuí (Pequeno and Grande), Caratinga, and Manhuaçu rivers. In Espírito Santo, there are the committees of the sub-basins of the Guandu, Santa Joana, and Santa Maria do Doce rivers, of the "Pontões e Lagoas do Rio Doce", and of "Barra Seca e Foz do Rio Doce".<ref name="CBHDoce_Bacia">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbhdoce.org.br/institucional/a-bacia |title=A bacia |author=Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |access-date=13 April 2022 }}</ref> Among the actions of CBH-Doce are the funding and/or execution of water and sewage system works,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbhdoce.org.br/geral/comites-da-bacia-do-rio-doce-trabalham-em-prol-de-melhorias-no-saneamento |title=Comitês da Bacia do Rio Doce trabalham em prol de melhorias no saneamento |trans-title=Doce River Basin committees work toward improvements in sanitation |author=Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |date=2 June 2021 |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> programs for rational water use and water security,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.folhavitoria.com.br/geral/noticia/04/2022/cbh-doce-esta-com-edital-aberto-para-municipios-inseridos-na-bacia-do-rio-doce |title=CBH-Doce está com edital aberto para municípios inseridos na bacia do Rio Doce |trans-title=CBH-Doce has an open bidding notice for municipalities within the Doce River basin |author=Folha Vitória |date=14 April 2022 |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> programs for living with floods, environmental education activities, and interventions to control sediment production;<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Silva Alves |first=Fabiano Henrique da |year=2020 |title=Avaliação do Programa de Incentivo ao Uso Racional de Água na Agricultura (P 22) após a sua implementação na Unidade de Análise do São José |trans-title=Evaluation of the Incentive Program for Rational Water Use in Agriculture (P 22) after its implementation in the São José Analysis Unit |pages=15–19 |publisher=Universidade Federal de Itajubá (UNIFEI) |url=https://repositorio.unifei.edu.br/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2369/1/ARQUIVO_TRABALHO_FINAL_-_Dissertacao_-_Fabiano_Henrique_da_Silva_Alves%20-%20Fabiano%20Henrique%20da%20Silva%20Alves.pdf |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> the improvement of rural properties with water capture and storage technologies;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.diariodoaco.com.br/noticia/0055907-programa-rio-vivo-contempla-150-propriedades-rurais-de-ipatinga |title=Programa Rio Vivo contempla 150 propriedades rurais de Ipatinga |trans-title=Rio Vivo program benefits 150 rural properties in Ipatinga |author=Jornal Diário do Aço |date=12 January 2018 |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> support for and follow-up of reforestation and environmental restoration works;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2017-05/reflorestamento-da-bacia-do-rio-doce-custara-r-11-bilhao |title=Reflorestamento da bacia do Rio Doce custará R$ 1,1 bilhão |trans-title=Reforestation of the Doce River basin will cost R$ 1.1 billion |author=Léo Rodrigues |date=10 May 2017 |website=Agência Brasil |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> and the preparation of integrated plans and studies for natural resource management.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.igam.mg.gov.br/banco-de-noticias/485-revitalizacao-de-bacias-e-debatida-no-forum-das-aguas-do-doce |title=Revitalização de bacias é debatida no Fórum das Águas do Doce |trans-title=Revitalization of basins is debated at the Doce Waters Forum |author=Instituto Mineiro de Gestão de Águas (IGAM) |date=3 April 2008 |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref>
==== Environmental preservation ==== [[File:Instituto Terra 1, Aymorés-MG.jpg|thumb|left|Headquarters of the Instituto Terra in Aimorés, an area of the basin considered a private natural heritage reserve (RPPN).]] The coverage of riparian forest along the course of the Doce River is restricted to 14.9% of its banks in Minas Gerais and 21.3% in Espírito Santo,<ref name="EstadodeMinas_Ciliar">{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2016/06/06/interna_gerais,769656/rompimento-de-barragem-piorou-situacao-da-mata-ciliar-no-rio-doce.shtml |title=Rompimento de barragem piorou situação da mata ciliar em todo o Rio Doce |trans-title=Dam collapse worsened the condition of riparian forest throughout the Doce River |author=Mateus Parreiras |date=6 June 2016 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> but only 1% is preserved with native forest,<ref name="Terra_Poluição"/> which is the result of the dominant land use by the region's economic activities.<ref name="Consórcio2010_422">{{Harvnb|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|p=422}}</ref><ref name="EstadodeMinas_Ciliar"/> In 2010, the basin had 19 strict-protection units among national, state, and municipal parks, ecological stations, biological reserves, and natural monuments (Pontões Capixabas), which are distinguished by the prohibition of direct use of their natural resources. In addition, there were 20 private natural heritage reserves (RPPNs) and 60 environmental protection areas (APAs),{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=188–192}} although APAs may be merely demarcated, without management instruments existing.<ref>{{cite report |author=Centro Universitário Católica do Leste de Minas Gerais (Unileste) |year=2014 |title=Região Metropolitana do Vale do Aço – diagnóstico final (volume 2) |trans-title=Metropolitan Region of Vale do Aço – final diagnosis (volume 2) |journal=Plano Diretor de Desenvolvimento Integrado (PDDI) |page=358 |volume=2 |url=http://www.unilestemg.br/pddi/arq/doc/documentos-oficiais/2014/PDDI_DIAGNOSTICO_VOL2.pdf |access-date=27 April 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The spring considered the first source of the Doce River, in Ressaquinha, is located on private property, but it was fenced by IEF-MG in 2019.<ref name="IEF_Nascente">{{cite web |url=http://www.ief.mg.gov.br/noticias/2709-primeira-nascente-do-rio-doce-e-cercada-e-protegida-no-municipio-de-ressaquinha |title=Primeira nascente do Rio Doce é cercada e protegida no município de Ressaquinha |author=Instituto Estadual de Florestas de Minas Gerais (IEF-MG) |date=30 May 2019 |access-date=13 April 2022 }}</ref> However, the waters are compromised downstream by rampant mining and sewage.<ref name="Estadodeminas_Bacia"/> The Rio Doce State Park (PERD), created in 1944 with the intention of protecting one of the last remnants of native forest in the Doce River Valley, contains the largest Atlantic Forest reserve in the basin and in Minas Gerais, besides constituting one of the largest lake systems in the world. The hydrographic course borders the park, which has 36,000 hectares distributed among the municipalities of Dionísio, Marliéria, and Timóteo.<ref name="Atlas_Bacia">{{cite web |url=http://www.atlasdasaguas.ufv.br/doce/resumo_doce.html |title=Atualização dos estudos hidrológicos na bacia hidrográfica do rio Doce |author=Atlas Digital das Águas de Minas |date=2010 |publisher=Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) |access-date=13 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/especiais/natureza-morta/2015/12/21/natureza-morta,717981/rejeitos-da-barragem-do-fundao-ameacam-ecossistema-da-amazonia-mineira.shtml |title=Rejeitos da Barragem do Fundão ameaçam ecossistema da Amazônia mineira |trans-title=Tailings from the Fundão Dam threaten the ecosystem of the Minas Gerais Amazon |author=Daniel Camargos |date=21 December 2015 |website=Jornal Estado de Minas |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> The estuary of the watercourse in Linhares, in turn, is monitored because it is a nesting site for sea turtles.{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=384–385}}
In the middle Doce River is located the Instituto Terra, begun by Lélia and Sebastião Salgado with 700 h of degraded land reforested with native forest in Aimorés.<ref name="OGlobo_Terra">{{cite web |url=http://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/sustentabilidade/instituto-inicia-projeto-para-proteger-nascentes-do-vale-do-rio-doce-15920401 |title=Instituto inicia projeto para proteger nascentes do Vale do Rio Doce |trans-title=Institute starts project to protect springs in the Doce River Valley |author=Miriam Leitão |date=19 April 2015 |website=O Globo |access-date=13 May 2015}}</ref> This is the so-called Fazenda Bulcão, where the source of the Bulcão stream, a tributary of the Doce River, is located, and which was transformed into a private natural heritage reserve (RPPN).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gq.globo.com/Prazeres/Poder/noticia/2018/05/batalha-de-sebastiao-salgado-para-ainda-tentar-salvar-mariana.html |title=A batalha de Sebastião Salgado para (ainda) tentar salvar Mariana |trans-title=Sebastião Salgado's battle to (still) try to save Mariana |author=Pedro Carvalho |date=7 May 2018 |website=GQ |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> The initiative aims to extend this protection to other springs in the basin, encouraging landowners who have springs to protect them through the donation of materials to fence them off.<ref name="OGlobo_Terra"/>
Studies and activities in favor of the conservation of the Doce River are carried out by public bodies, companies, environmental NGOs, environmental groups, and independent researchers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/especiais/natureza-morta/2015/12/21/natureza-morta,717982/pesquisadores-independentes-e-ongs-avaliam-area-devastada-ao-longo-do.shtml |title=Pesquisadores independentes e ONGs avaliam área devastada ao longo do Rio Doce |trans-title=Independent researchers and NGOs assess devastated area along the Doce River |author=Jornal Estado de Minas |date=21 December 2015 |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbhdoce.org.br/geral/cbh-barra-seca-e-foz-do-rio-doce-governo-capixaba-ongs-e-iniciativa-privada-articulam-parceria-para-conservacao-das-bacias-do-espirito-santo |title=CBH-Barra Seca e Foz do Rio Doce, governo capixaba, ONGs e iniciativa privada particular articulam parceria para conservação das bacias do Espírito Santo |trans-title=CBH-Barra Seca e Foz do Rio Doce, Espírito Santo state government, NGOs, and private initiative articulate partnership for conservation of Espírito Santo basins |author=Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |date=9 November 2016 |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> In 2014, the NGO The Nature Conservancy (TNC) began monitoring and providing technical advisory support for the restoration of 1500 hectares of forests in the Doce River basin, in association with the Espírito Santo Institute of Environment and Water Resources (IEMA).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibio.org.br/en/projetos/arranjo_institucional_recuperacao-_florestal_porcao_capixaba_-do_-rio_-doce |title=Water and Forestry Development Center (Espírito Santo) |language=en |author=The Bioatlântica Institute (IBIO) |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref> In 2020, the Doce River Hydrographic Basin Committee joined TNC's Water Governance Monitoring Protocol, which is a tool that evaluates and identifies management problems of the committee itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tnc.org.br/o-que-fazemos/nossas-iniciativas/coalizao-cidades-pela-agua/coalizao-5-anos/uma-nova-forma-de-garantir-a-boa-gestao-da-agua/ |title=Uma nova forma de garantir a boa gestão da água |trans-title=A new way to guarantee good water management |author=The Nature Conservancy |date=14 December 2020 |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref> It is also worth noting that research activities regarding the conditions of the watercourse and conservation of its waters are produced by educational institutions and universities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unileste.catolica.edu.br/portal/pesquisadores-do-unileste-investigam-a-producao-de-materiais-de-construcao-civil-a-partir-da-lama-de-rejeitos-despejadas-no-rio-doce/ |title=Pesquisadores do Unileste investigam a produção de materiais de construção civil a partir da lama de rejeitos despejadas no Rio Doce |trans-title=Unileste researchers investigate the production of civil construction materials from tailings mud dumped into the Doce River |author=Centro Universitário Católica do Leste de Minas Gerais (Unileste) |date=16 August 2016 |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ufmg.br/comunicacao/noticias/iara-vai-purificar-as-aguas-do-rio-doce |title='Iara' vai purificar as águas do Rio Doce |trans-title='Iara' will purify the waters of the Doce River |author=Luana Macieira |date=23 October 2017 |website=Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref>
== Popular culture == thumb|right|Sunset reflected over the Doce River in Colatina Although degraded, the Doce River is still incorporated into the daily life of residents around its course, whether through its direct use or solely through its physical existence. The course is directly linked to the history of the cities that developed on its banks,<ref name="Metrópoles_EFVM">{{cite web |url=https://www.metropoles.com/materias-especiais/a-tragedia-de-mariana-mg-vista-pela-janela-do-trem-efvm |title=A tragédia de Mariana (MG) vista pela janela do trem |trans-title=The Mariana (MG) tragedy seen from the train window |author=Emano Silva |date=23 December 2018 |website=Metrópoles |access-date=14 April 2022 }}</ref><ref name="UFES_EFVM">{{cite journal |last=Teixeira |first=Tamara Lopes |date=November 2013 |title=Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas: elementos para a gestão da paisagem ferroviária |trans-title=Vitória–Minas Railway: elements for the management of the railway landscape |journal=Arquivo Público do Estado do Espírito Santo (APEES) |publisher=Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) |pages=49–54 |url=https://ape.es.gov.br/Media/ape/PDF/Disserta%C3%A7%C3%B5es%20e%20Teses/ARQUITETURA%20E%20URBANISMO/UFES_PPGAU_TAMARA_LOPES_TEIXEIRA.pdf |access-date=14 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414193154/https://ape.es.gov.br/Media/ape/PDF/Disserta%C3%A7%C3%B5es%20e%20Teses/ARQUITETURA%20E%20URBANISMO/UFES_PPGAU_TAMARA_LOPES_TEIXEIRA.pdf |archive-date=14 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://g1.globo.com/espirito-santo/noticia/2015/11/lama-no-rio-doce-saiba-o-impacto-na-vida-na-economia-e-na-natureza.html |title=Lama no Rio Doce: saiba o impacto na vida, na economia e na natureza |trans-title=Mud in the Doce River: learn the impact on life, the economy, and nature |author=Naiara Arpini |date=30 November 2015 |website=G1 |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref> and is even referenced in the name of the municipality of Rio Doce. This, in turn, was inherited from the old railway station of the locality served by the Leopoldina Railway, Rio Doce Station, whose name refers to the watercourse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riodoce.mg.gov.br/index.php/prefeitura/historia |title=História |trans-title=History |author=Prefeitura de Rio Doce |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref>
Together with the historical context, the Doce River is part of various landscapes that contain individual and collective meanings for nearby residents, inspiring memories and recollections.<ref name="Unicamp_Memórias">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicamp.br/unicamp/ju/noticias/2019/07/16/memorias-poeticas-de-lagrima-lama-e-luta |title=Memórias poéticas de lágrima, lama e luta |trans-title=Poetic memories of tears, mud, and struggle |author=Andressa Menezes de Souza |date=16 July 2019 |website=Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://secult.es.gov.br/Not%C3%ADcia/a-vila-de-regencia-augusta-recebe-o-projeto-monumentos-de-amor-ao-rio-doce |title=A Vila de Regência Augusta recebe o projeto Monumentos de Amor ao Rio Doce |trans-title=The village of Regência Augusta receives the project Monuments of Love for the Doce River |author=Secretaria da Cultura do Espírito Santo |date=6 November 2018 |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref> Associated with variations in relief and weather (such as at sunset), the watercourse also enables the creation of attractive physical landscapes.<ref name="Vale_Passageiros">{{cite web|url=http://www.vale.com/brasil/pt/aboutvale/news/paginas/estrada-ferro-vitoria-minas-celebra-110-anos-conheca-historia.aspx |title=A Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas celebra 110 anos. Conheça essa história! |trans-title=The Vitória a Minas Railway celebrates 110 years. Get to know this story! |author=Vale S.A. |date=13 May 2014 |access-date=7 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://redeglobo.globo.com/tvgazetaes/noticia/2014/02/por-do-sol-de-colatina-ganha-terceiro-lugar-em-concurso-do-fantastico.html |title=Pôr do sol de Colatina ganha terceiro lugar em concurso do Fantástico |trans-title=Colatina sunset wins third place in Fantástico competition |author=TV Gazeta |date=3 February 2014 |website=Rede Globo |access-date=7 May 2022}}</ref> Attractive views of the river can be contemplated through the passenger train of the Vitória to Minas Railway, which runs daily between the metropolitan regions of Vitória and Belo Horizonte.<ref name="Vale_Passageiros"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://culturadoria.com.br/viagem-trem-ferias/ |title=Viajar de trem é uma boa opção para as férias |trans-title=Traveling by train is a good option for the holidays |author=Thiago Fonseca |date=15 January 2019 |website=Culturadoria |access-date=7 May 2022}}</ref>
For the Krenak people, inhabitants of the banks in the middle Doce River, the watercourse has its own personality, as do each water source and each hill. As parts of nature, they ultimately represent a common ancestor, with whom they communicate. They call the river "Watu",<ref name="Cerrados_Krenak">{{cite journal |last=Lemos da Costa |first=Fabrício |year=2021 |title=Tensões identitárias, diálogos e desafios na representação do indígena na literatura brasileira desde o século XVI |trans-title=Identity tensions, dialogues, and challenges in the representation of Indigenous people in Brazilian literature since the 16th century |pages=277–279 |issue=55 |volume=5 |issn=1982-9701 |publisher=Universidade de Brasília (UnB) |journal=Cerrados |url=https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/cerrados/issue/view/2041/576 |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref> which means "river that runs" or "river that speaks".<ref name="Época_Indígenas"/> The use of the riverbed has symbolic value not only for the Indigenous people, but also for individuals and communities that depend on it. This is explicit in Regência Augusta, where there are fishing communities that survive from artisanal fishing in the watercourse.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bicalho |first1=Charlene Sales |last2=Trigueiro |first2=Aline |last3=Knox |first3=Winifred |last4=Behr |first4=Ricardo |year=2014 |title=Movimentos das Águas Caboclas: narrativa visual, cotidiano e ruptura na comunidade pesqueira de Regência Augusta-ES |trans-title=Movements of Cabocla Waters: visual narrative, daily life, and rupture in the fishing community of Regência Augusta-ES |pages=23–27 |issue=1 |volume=2 |issn=2318-6933 |doi=10.24305/cadecs.v2i1.8429 |publisher=Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) |journal=Caderno eletrônico de Ciências Sociais |url=https://periodicos.ufes.br/cadecs/article/view/8429/5962 |access-date=6 May 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref>
In 2005, the government of Minas Gerais made official the Circuito Turístico Trilhas do Rio Doce,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turismo.mg.gov.br/images/stories/circuitos/lista-circuitos.pdf |title=Circuitos Turísticos de Minas Gerais |trans-title=Tourist Circuits of Minas Gerais |author=Secretaria de Turismo de Minas Gerais |date=18 March 2013 |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref> with the aim of stimulating and promoting tourism in cities of the Doce River Valley. These municipalities have cultural, historical, and geographical aspects in common that are linked by their proximity to the river.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trilhasdoriodoce.com.br/institucional |title=O circuito |trans-title=The circuit |author=Circuito Turístico Trilhas do Rio Doce |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref> In reference to the day on which the Portuguese colonizers first sighted the Doce River, on December 13, 1501, December 13 is considered the "Day of the Doce River".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbhdoce.org.br/geral/dia-do-rio-doce-cbh-doce-comemora-a-data-com-a-execucao-de-iniciativas |title=Dia do Rio Doce: CBH-Doce comemora a data com a execução de iniciativas |trans-title=Day of the Doce River: CBH-Doce celebrates the date with the execution of initiatives |author=Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |date=12 December 2022 |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref>
=== Cultural references ===
{{Quote box |width = 13em |align = right |quote = The river? It is sweet.<br /> The Vale? Bitter. |source = Carlos Drummond de Andrade, in ''Lira Itabirana'' (1984)<ref name="Veja_Sobrevive"/> }} The physical and cultural landscapes integrated with the river, as well as the adversities faced by the riverbed, are sometimes exalted in cultural manifestations, such as photographs, publications in the mass media,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.seculodiario.com.br/cultura/filme-usa-arquivos-historicos-para-contar-historia-do-rio-doce |title=Filme usa arquivos históricos para contar história do Rio Doce |trans-title=Film uses historical archives to tell the story of the Doce River |author=Vitor Taveira |date=October 9, 2020 |website=Século Diário |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref> music<ref name="Veja_Sobrevive">{{cite web |url=https://veja.abril.com.br/coluna/augusto-nunes/rio-doce-sobrevive-nas-poesias-cronicas-romances-e-cancoes/ |title=Rio Doce sobrevive nas poesias, crônicas, romances e canções |trans-title=The Doce River survives in poetry, chronicles, novels, and songs |author=Augusto Nunes |date=November 15, 2015 |website=Veja |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref> and literature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://revistaecologico.com.br/revista/edicoes-anteriores/edicao-107/na-trilha-do-doce/ |title=Na trilha do Doce |trans-title=On the trail of the Doce |author=J. Sabiá |date=May 14, 2018 |website=Revista Ecológico |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref><ref name="PublishNews_Lendas">{{cite web |url=https://www.publishnews.com.br/materias/2017/11/17/historias-e-lendas-do-rio-doce |title=Histórias e lendas do Rio Doce |trans-title=Stories and legends of the Doce River |author=PublishNews |date=November 17, 2017 |website=PublishNews |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref> The photographer Sebastião Salgado, internationally known for his socially and humanitarianly focused work,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.culturagenial.com/fotos-sebastiao-salgado/ |title=Sebastião Salgado: 13 fotos impactantes que resumem a obra do fotógrafo |trans-title=Sebastião Salgado: 13 striking photos that summarize the photographer's work |author=Rebeca Fuks |date=July 2, 2020 |website=Cultura Genial |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref> is from Aimorés. One of the inspirations for his international work "Gênesis" ({{ISBN|3-8365-3872-5}}; 2013) is his contact with the nature of his homeland, including his contact with the Doce River and with Instituto Terra, discussed earlier.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vejasp.abril.com.br/cultura-lazer/sebastiao-salgado-exposicao-genesis/ |title=Sebastião Salgado: "'Genesis' fecha para mim um ciclo de histórias" |trans-title=Sebastião Salgado: "'Genesis' closes a cycle of stories for me" |author=Bruna Ribeiro |date=September 4, 2013 |website=Veja SP |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uai.com.br/app/noticia/e-mais/2014/06/01/noticia-e-mais,155320/origem-da-luz.shtml |title=Exposição Genesis, com fotografias de Sebastião Salgado, chega a BH na quarta-feira |trans-title=The exhibition Genesis, with photographs by Sebastião Salgado, arrives in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday |author=Carlos Herculano Lopes |date=June 1, 2014 |website=Uai |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref> In music, Beto Guedes, Tavinho Moura, and Ronaldo Bastos composed "Rio Doce" in 1981, in which the watercourse is described as a setting.<ref name="Veja_Sobrevive"/>
The watercourse is listed in ''Caramuru'' (1781), which narrates the story of the Portuguese castaway Diogo Álvares Correia (Caramuru) and his coexistence with the Tupinambá. Rubem Braga, in turn, describes the Espírito Santo stretch in the works ''Barra do Rio Doce'' (1949) and ''O lavrador'' (1954). Carlos Drummond de Andrade, while questioning the impacts of mining in Itabira in the poem ''Lira Itabirana'' (1984), also refers to the Doce River. In 1996, Ziraldo, a native of Caratinga, published the book ''O menino do Rio Doce'', in which he describes his contact with the riverbed in childhood. ''O cheiro de Deus'' (2001), by Roberto Drummond, is another literary work that refers to river pollution.<ref name="Unicamp_Memórias"/><ref name="Veja_Sobrevive"/> Geny Vilas-Novas, born in Periquito, emphasizes the river as a setting in works such as ''Flores de Vidro'' (2015), ''Onde Está Meu Coração?'' (2015)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.otempo.com.br/diversao/magazine/autora-tem-obra-baseada-na-vivencia-em-torno-do-rio-doce-1.1174787 |title=Autora tem obra baseada na vivência em torno do rio Doce |trans-title=Author has work based on life around the Doce River |author=Jornal O Tempo |date=November 21, 2015 |website=O Tempo |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref> and ''Uma história dentro da outra e Lendas do rio Doce'' (2017).<ref name="PublishNews_Lendas"/> The river also stars in the graphic novel ''Doce Amargo'' (2025), by cartoonist João Marcos Parreira Mendonça, who lives in Governador Valadares, addressing the impact of the Mariana environmental disaster on the daily life of the population of Valadares and of the author.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/direitos-humanos/noticia/2025-11/doce-amargo-faz-reportagem-em-quadrinhos-sobre-desastre-em-mariana |title=Doce Amargo faz reportagem em quadrinhos sobre desastre em Mariana |trans-title=Doce Amargo makes comics reportage about the disaster in Mariana |author=Odair Braz Junior |date=November 5, 2025 |website=Agência Brasil |access-date=February 24, 2026}}</ref>
=== Landmarks and attractions === [[File:Governador Valadares - Leste de Minas - 4.jpg|thumb|left|The Doce River with Ibituruna Peak in the background in Governador Valadares]] The course of the Doce River is directly linked to a series of remaining assets that are configured as attractive places to visit. Some points on its banks have freshwater beaches, one of the main ones being Praia do Jaó, in Tumiritinga. Its landscape ensemble was recognized as cultural heritage by the Institute of the Historical and Artistic Heritage of Minas Gerais (IEPHA) in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipatrimonio.org/tumiritinga-conjunto-paisagistico-da-praia-do-jao/#!/map=38329&loc=-18.975113999999994,-41.63820599999999,17 |title=Tumiritinga – Conjunto Paisagístico da Praia do Jaó |trans-title=Tumiritinga – Landscape Ensemble of Praia do Jaó |author=iPatrimônio |website=iPatrimônio |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> Despite the poor water quality, with direct contact with the river to be avoided,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guedes |first1=Gilvan Ramalho |last2=Simão |first2=Andréa Branco |last3=Dias |first3=Carlos Alberto |last4=Braga |first4=Eliza de Oliveira |year=2015 |title=Risco de adoecimento por exposição às águas do Rio Doce: um estudo sobre a percepção da população de Tumiritinga, Minas Gerais, Brasil |trans-title=Risk of illness from exposure to the waters of the Doce River: a study on the perception of the population of Tumiritinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil |issue=6 |volume=31 |issn=1678-4464 |doi=10.1590/0102-311X00063514 |publisher=Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) |journal=Cadernos de Saúde Pública |url=https://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0102-311X2015000601257&script=sci_arttext |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511191509/https://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0102-311X2015000601257&script=sci_arttext |archive-date=May 11, 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref> the complex also includes an events area, walking track, environmental preservation area with trails, and a square on the riverbank.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trilhasdoriodoce.com.br/tumiritinga |title=Tumiritinga |author=Circuito Turístico Trilhas do Rio Doce |website=Circuito Turístico Trilhas do Rio Doce |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref>
Between the municipalities of Marliéria and Pingo-d'Água, on one of the boundaries of Rio Doce State Park, is located the Ponte Queimada. Although it was rebuilt in the 1930s to transport local charcoal production, its name honors a fire at the site caused by Indigenous people in the past, and the construction preserves its original characteristics of iron girders and a wooden body.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.descubraminas.com.br/Turismo/ParqueApresentacao.aspx?cod_destino=796 |title=Parque Estadual do Rio Doce – Apresentação |trans-title=Rio Doce State Park – Presentation |author=Descubra Minas |website=Descubra Minas |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212210536/http://www.descubraminas.com.br/Turismo/ParqueApresentacao.aspx?cod_destino=796 |archive-date=February 12, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.diariodoaco.com.br/noticia/0044071-ponte-queimada-deve-ganhar-reforma-em-breve |title=Ponte Queimada deve ganhar reforma em breve |trans-title=Ponte Queimada should receive renovations soon |author=Jornal Diário do Aço |date=July 10, 2015 |website=Diário do Aço |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> As a replacement for this bridge, construction of a new one began in Bom Jesus do Galho, also on the boundaries of the state park, but the work was embargoed in 1973 because of possible environmental impacts on the region. This became the Ponte Perdida,<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Melo |first=Deyse Lílian de Moura |year=2001 |title=O Parque Estadual do Rio Doce/MG e a qualidade de vida da população de seu entorno |trans-title=The Rio Doce State Park/MG and the quality of life of the population in its surroundings |publisher=Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) |url=http://www.locus.ufv.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/9176/texto%20completo.pdf |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212210910/http://www.locus.ufv.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/9176/texto%20completo.pdf |archive-date=February 12, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> later used as an environmental monitoring point.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.diariodoaco.com.br/noticia/0001094-perd-reinaugura-centro-de-pesquisa-da-ponte-perdida |title=PERD reinaugura Centro de Pesquisa da Ponte Perdida |trans-title=PERD reopens the Ponte Perdida Research Center |author=Jornal Diário do Aço |date=September 23, 2016 |website=Diário do Aço |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> [[File:Farol de Regência.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Dome of the old Farol do Rio Doce (1895)]]
In Governador Valadares is located the Ponte do São Raimundo, which is the first large bridge built in the municipality, with its deck of {{cvt|447|m}} in length serving the passage of BR-116. Dating from the 1940s,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://drd.com.br/fluxo-de-transito-na-ponte-do-sao-raimundo-e-motivo-de-reclamacoes-da-populacao-valadarense/ |title=Fluxo de trânsito na ponte do São Raimundo é motivo de reclamações da população valadarense |trans-title=Traffic flow on the São Raimundo bridge is a cause of complaints from the population of Valadares |author=Fábio Velame |date=September 6, 2020 |website=Diário do Rio Doce |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511214323/https://drd.com.br/fluxo-de-transito-na-ponte-do-sao-raimundo-e-motivo-de-reclamacoes-da-populacao-valadarense/ |archive-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> its portal structure with arch beams was considered complex for the locality at the time of its inauguration.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Couzi |first1=Douglas Oliveira |last2=Duque |first2=Juliano |last3=Pinto |first3=Marcelo José |last4=Falci |first4=Rodrigo Angello |last5=Silva |first5=Rosenildo Ribeiro |last6=Leite |first6=Salatiel Anuda de Souza |last7=Davel |first7=Viviany Coelho |date=June 2000 |title=Patologia e recuperação da ponte do bairro São Raimundo |trans-title=Pathology and recovery of the bridge in the São Raimundo neighborhood |publisher=Universidade Vale do Rio Doce (Univale) |url=https://docplayer.com.br/21747984-Patologia-e-recuperacao-da-ponte-do-bairro-sao-raimundo.html |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511213925/https://docplayer.com.br/21747984-Patologia-e-recuperacao-da-ponte-do-bairro-sao-raimundo.html |archive-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> The Doce River, as well as Ibituruna Peak, located on its right bank, are among the principal symbols of the city as members of the landscape.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Guimarães |first=Cristiana Maria de Oliveira |year=2008 |title=O patrimônio cultural de Governador Valadares (MG): algumas reflexões |trans-title=The cultural heritage of Governador Valadares (MG): some reflections |page=46 |issue=5 |doi=10.11606/issn.1980-4466.v0i5p37-52 |publisher=Universidade de São Paulo (USP) |journal=Revista CPC |url=https://www.revistas.usp.br/cpc/article/view/15615/17189 |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511215043/https://www.revistas.usp.br/cpc/article/view/15615/17189 |archive-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> In Itapina, a district of Colatina, standing out in the landscape over the riverbed is an arch bridge that was abandoned without ever being completed in the 1950s. The works were halted because of a calculation error and were never resumed. The structure cannot be reused because it was condemned due to wear over time, but because of its historical and landscape value it was listed as part of the Historic Site of Itapina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ijsn.es.gov.br/ConteudoDigital/20161007_aj15396_pontedecolatina.pdf |title=Ponte iniciada há 58 anos nunca foi usada |trans-title=Bridge begun 58 years ago was never used |author=Nilo Tardin |date=November 16, 2014 |website=Jornal A Tribuna |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511214024/http://www.ijsn.es.gov.br/ConteudoDigital/20161007_aj15396_pontedecolatina.pdf |archive-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref>
The Florentino Avidos Bridge, in Colatina, was inaugurated as part of public incentives for the development of northern Espírito Santo in 1928. In addition to linking the northern and southern regions of the city, which is divided by the Doce River, the construction is one of the main symbols of the municipality together with Avenida Beira Rio and the river.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://diariodigitalcapixaba.com.br/noticia/1608/a-ponte-florentino-avidos-em-colatina-foi-inaugurada-em-1928-para-desenvolver-o-norte-capixaba |title=A ponte Florentino Avidos em Colatina foi inaugurada em 1928 para desenvolver o norte capixaba |trans-title=The Florentino Avidos Bridge in Colatina was inaugurated in 1928 to develop northern Espírito Santo |author=Paulo César Dutra |date=February 23, 2021 |website=Diário Digital Capixaba |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> On the northern bank of the mouth of the watercourse, in the village of Regência Augusta, the Farol do Rio Doce stands out, originally built by the Brazilian Navy in 1895. Twelve years later it was replaced by another farther south, but the old one was listed by the government of Espírito Santo in 1998.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipatrimonio.org/linhares-farol-do-rio-doce/#!/map=38329&loc=-19.651076999999983,-39.825639,17 |title=Linhares – Farol do Rio Doce |trans-title=Linhares – Doce River Lighthouse |author=iPatrimônio |website=iPatrimônio |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511214454/http://www.ipatrimonio.org/linhares-farol-do-rio-doce/#!/map=38329&loc=-19.651076999999983,-39.825639,17 |archive-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> {{Panorama |image=Panorâmica Ponte Queimada e Rio Doce MG.jpg |height=1000 |caption=Panorama of the Ponte Queimada over the Doce River seen from the exit of Rio Doce State Park, between Marliéria and Pingo-d'Água. }}
== History == The Doce River basin has rocks dated to the Eoarchean and the Proterozoic, which go back to the earliest ages of the Earth. The river, through the transport of sediments, contributed to shaping the relief of this region over time. It was also in this way that the diversity of lagoons that are part of the basin was formed.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_19a21"/> However, northern Espírito Santo, including the lower Doce River, only formed from the silting up of the Atlantic Ocean in the Cenozoic. The watercourse contributed to this silting due to the displacement of sediments, forming the surface beneath the present municipality of Linhares throughout the Pleistocene and the Holocene.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_19a21">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2021|pp=19–21}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Dessart |first=Rafael Lima |year=2009 |title=Caracterização estratigráfica do preenchimento do vale inciso do Baixo Rio Doce durante o pleistoceno superior-holoceno |trans-title=Stratigraphic characterization of the filling of the incised valley of the Lower Doce River during the upper Pleistocene-Holocene |page=6 |publisher=Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos) |url=http://www.repositorio.jesuita.org.br/bitstream/handle/UNISINOS/3978/RafaelDessartGeologia1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531191307/http://www.repositorio.jesuita.org.br/bitstream/handle/UNISINOS/3978/RafaelDessartGeologia1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref>
=== Exploration === [[File:Rio Doce em Tumiritinga MG visto da Praia do Jaó.JPG|thumb|left|Doce River in Tumiritinga, a region that was inhabited by native peoples in the past.]] Known human presence on the banks of the Doce River is relatively late. While in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area there are archaeological records more than 10,000 years old, among them the fossil of Luzia, the oldest traces of human life found on the riverbanks are dated to the 14th century. On that occasion the Tupis traveled along the course coming from the coast and came to inhabit areas between Governador Valadares and Tumiritinga, in Minas Gerais.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_30a32">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2021|pp=30–31}}</ref> However, at some point, for unknown reasons, they left the place. It is known that Aimorés coming from Espírito Santo and southern Bahia also frequented the Doce River valley, but only in the months of the dry season, because in the rainy months the proliferation of mosquitoes and tropical diseases was greater.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_32a34">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2021|pp=32–34}}</ref>
The river was one of the limits of the Aimorés' area of dominion, which extended as far as the Salitre River, in Bahia. However, they were semi-nomadic and were in constant movement.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Almeida |first=Helena Azevedo Paulo de |year=2013 |title=Bravos botocudo: indígenas bravios do Vale do Rio Doce e Belmonte |trans-title=Brave Botocudo: fierce indigenous people of the Doce River valley and Belmonte |page=17 |publisher=Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP) |url=https://lph.ichs.ufop.br/sites/default/files/lph/files/39_helena_azevedo_paulo_de_almeida_-_bravos_botocudo_indigenas_bravios_do_vale_do_rio_doce_e0abelmonte.pdf |access-date=May 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522170212/https://lph.ichs.ufop.br/sites/default/files/lph/files/39_helena_azevedo_paulo_de_almeida_-_bravos_botocudo_indigenas_bravios_do_vale_do_rio_doce_e0abelmonte.pdf |archive-date=May 22, 2022}}</ref> Pataxós and Puris could also be found near the riverbed.<ref name="Indígenas_Pataxós">{{cite web |url=https://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/Povo:Patax%C3%B3 |title=Pataxó |trans-title=Pataxó |author=Povos Indígenas do Brasil |website=Povos Indígenas do Brasil |date=2013 |access-date=November 9, 2020}}</ref> It was first described by Portuguese colonizers by André Gonçalves on December 13, 1501, during an expedition sent by the Portuguese Crown to reconnoiter the coast of Brazil.<ref name="EstaçãoCapixaba_Selva">{{cite web |url=http://www.estacaocapixaba.com.br/2016/02/o-desbravamento-das-selvas-do-rio-doce_13.html |title=O desbravamento das selvas do Rio Doce (Memórias) – Rio Doce I |trans-title=The exploration of the jungles of the Doce River (Memories) – Doce River I |author=Ceciliano Abel de Almeida |date=January 12, 2015 |website=Estação Capixaba |access-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725133555/http://www.estacaocapixaba.com.br/2016/02/o-desbravamento-das-selvas-do-rio-doce_13.html |archive-date=July 25, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A few years later it received the name that remains to this day, "Doce River", because the first expeditions along the coast identified the river's fresh water in the sea without even being able to sight the mouth. Before flowing into the ocean the course makes a curve that hinders its visualization.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_35a39">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2021|pp=35–39}}</ref> Later, it became a means of penetration for the colonizers in the exploration of the present-day states of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_35a39"/>
Sebastião Fernandes Tourinho was the first to travel along the river, from 1553 to 1573, in search of gold and emeralds.<ref name="Univale_Krenak">{{cite thesis |last=Portes |first=Edileila Maria Leite |year=2011 |title=Desenhos de um território: Arte e Territorialidade na Sociedade Athorãn/Krenak no Vale do Rio Doce – MG |trans-title=Drawings of a territory: Art and Territoriality in Athorãn/Krenak Society in the Doce River valley – MG |page=11 |publisher=Universidade Vale do Rio Doce (Univale) |url=http://www.pergamum.univale.br/pergamum/tcc/DesenhosdeumterritorioarteeterritorialidadenasociedadeathoranKrenaknovaledoriodocemg.pdf |access-date=May 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522170301/http://www.pergamum.univale.br/pergamum/tcc/DesenhosdeumterritorioarteeterritorialidadenasociedadeathoranKrenaknovaledoriodocemg.pdf |archive-date=May 22, 2022}}</ref> In 1577, Salvador Correia de Sá, o Velho also explored the watercourse.<ref name="Indígenas_Pataxós"/><ref name="Univale_Krenak"/> The first inland expeditions had the main objective of searching for gold and other precious materials. Myths inherited from the indigenous people held that the valley contained deposits of these metals and stones. However, the dense forest, tropical diseases, and indigenous resistance were factors that repelled the intrusions. Fernão Dias came to announce that he would lead a bandeira along the Doce River in 1672, but unlike the previous ones it would depart from the headwaters coming from the ranges of the Mantiqueira and the Espinhaço. He died of malaria in 1681, before even coming into contact with the watercourse. On the other hand, dispersed fronts of these expeditions managed to find gold in places where they later founded settlements, among them those that gave rise to cities such as Antônio Dias, Caeté, Mariana, Ouro Preto, and Sabará.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_35a39"/>
Pedro Bueno Cacunda, a miner who also traveled along the courses of the Guandu and Manhuaçu rivers, succeeded in reaching the upper Doce River in search of areas for the expansion of mining in the 18th century. In this endeavor, he encouraged settlement at the river's headwaters, bringing indigenous people with him to assist in the work and persuade other indigenous people so that he could advance.<ref name="APES_ES">{{cite book |last=Teixeira de Oliveira |first=José |year=2008 |title=História do Estado do Espírito Santo |trans-title=History of the State of Espírito Santo |page=206-207 |publisher=Governo do Espírito Santo |location=Vitória-ES |isbn=978-85-98928-04-3 |url=https://ape.es.gov.br/Media/ape/PDF/Livros/Livro_Historia_ES.pdf |access-date=May 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522170349/https://ape.es.gov.br/Media/ape/PDF/Livros/Livro_Historia_ES.pdf |archive-date=May 22, 2022}}</ref> In that century, with the use of heavy metals for mining at the headwaters of watercourses in the basin, especially in Ouro Preto, Mariana, and Santa Bárbara, the process of degradation of the Doce River began.<ref name="UFMGDesastre_130">{{Harvnb|Milanez|Losekann|2017|p=130}}</ref> However, the discovery of rich gold deposits in the central region of Minas Gerais, in an area running from São João del-Rei to Minas Novas, concentrated the interest of outsiders there and in neighboring regions from the 17th century onward. Outside these domains they were called the backlands, among them the "Backlands of the Doce River", just as there also existed the "Eastern Backlands" (Zona da Mata Mineira) and the "Backlands of the São Francisco".<ref name="UnivaleHistória_35a39"/>
=== From forbidden river to a massacre === [[File:Map of Doce and Jequitinhonha Rivers Copied from Documents Found in the House of Representatives WDL945.png|thumb|right|Map showing the Doce and Jequitinhonha rivers, by Raimundo José da Cunha Matos, dated to the 19th century.]] To protect the gold reserves, settlement and the opening of new trails through the Doce River valley were at one time prohibited by the Portuguese Crown, as a way of preventing the smuggling of gold by means of the Doce River and its tributaries.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_35a39"/><ref name="Circuito_História">{{cite web |url=http://www.circuitomataatlantica.tur.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159 |title=Coronel Fabriciano |trans-title=Coronel Fabriciano |author=Circuito Turístico Mata Atlântica de Minas Gerais |website=Circuito Turístico Mata Atlântica de Minas Gerais |access-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221134958/http://www.circuitomataatlantica.tur.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159 |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> With the intention of keeping outsiders away, these were said to be lands with dense vegetation and venomous animals, with the predominance of the ferocity of the native peoples. However, settlement was permitted in 1755, after Minas Gerais went through a decline in gold production. Even with the reduced availability of gold,<ref name="Circuito_História"/> mineral diversity favored the development of mining activity in the following centuries in the region of some headwaters of the upper Doce River, such as in Mariana.<ref name="APES_ES"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gazetaonline.com.br/noticias/brasil/2017/10/distrito-de-mariana-vira-uma--chernobyl-nao-radioativa--feita-de-lama-1014105536.html |title=Distrito de Mariana vira uma 'Chernobyl não radioativa' feita de lama |trans-title=District of Mariana becomes a 'non-radioactive Chernobyl' made of mud |author=Gazeta Online |date=October 30, 2017 |website=Gazeta Online |access-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref>
By 1808, 26 explorers had traveled along the Doce River, all in search of precious stones, in vain.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_35a39"/> Despite the permission for settlement, attacks by Botocudos<ref name="UFESBotocudos_39a41">{{Harvnb|Marinato|2007|pp=39–40}}</ref> (as the Aimorés were called)<ref name="UnivaleHistória_32a34"/> on outsiders were becoming frequent, which led the government of the Minas Gerais Province to demand action from the Portuguese Crown.<ref name="UFESBotocudos_39a41"/> In addition, the Backlands of the Doce River in Minas Gerais and their extension in Espírito Santo were one of the only regions of Brazil still totally dominated by natives, outside the control of the Portuguese administration, so it was in its interest to demonstrate power through taking control.<ref name="UFESBotocudos_27a28">{{Harvnb|Marinato|2007|pp=27–28}}</ref> As a result, "quartels" were created along the course of the Doce River with the objective of strengthening protection for the colonists. The Royal Charter of May 13, 1808 also determined an offensive war against the native population, authorizing their extermination, as the government of Minas Gerais desired.<ref name="UFESBotocudos_39a41"/><ref name="USP_Maximiliano">{{cite thesis |last=Rostworowski da Costa |first=Christina |year=2008 |title=O príncipe Maximiliano de Wied-Neuwied e sua viagem ao Brasil (1815–1817) |trans-title=Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied and his journey to Brazil (1815–1817) |page=58 |publisher=Universidade de São Paulo (USP) |url=https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8138/tde-15042009-150645/publico/CHRISTINA_ROSTWOROWSKI_DA_COSTA.pdf |access-date=25 May 2022 }}</ref>
[[File:Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied Schifffahrt Rio Doce 1815.jpg|thumb|left|Illustration of the entourage of the Rhenish prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied on the Doce River in 1815<ref name="USP_Maximiliano"/>]]
In 1823, Guido Marlière, a French military officer, took over the Directorate of Indians in the Province of Minas and promoted dialogue with the indigenous people in place of systematic massacre.<ref name="UFESBotocudos_52a54">{{Harvnb|Marinato|2007|pp=52–54}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://idasbrasil.com.br/Parque+Estadual+do+Rio+Doce/Historia/fatos-historicos |title=Botocudos x fazendeiros |trans-title=Botocudos vs. farmers |author=Marcelo Resende |website=Idas Brasil |access-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref> By this point, the conflicts against the indigenous people were out of control even for the crown's military divisions, so Marlière was entrusted with the objective of pacification. Earlier, in 1813, the Frenchman had already succeeded in pacifying natives and colonists in the Zona da Mata Mineira. Already on the Doce River, he transformed the quartels into food distribution centers.<ref name="UFESBotocudos_52a54"/> Despite the prohibition of attacks on indigenous people in 1831, the local peoples were already practically extinct, which served as an incentive for colonization. Even so, this process continued to occur relatively slowly.<ref name="UFMG_39a41">{{Harvnb|Barbosa|2010|pp=39–41}}</ref>
The Krenak people who inhabit the left bank of the Doce River in Resplendor are the greatest concentration of heirs of the surviving Aimorés.<ref name="UFMGBorum_45a47"/> In contrast with the massacre of the natives, the 19th century is also marked by the first expeditions that intended to research the natural aspects of the Doce River and the related cultures. In 1815, the Rhenish prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied traveled through the region to come into contact with the culture of the indigenous people. This visit resulted in studies that contributed to demystifying the ferocity of these peoples.<ref name="USP_Maximiliano"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brasilianaiconografica.art.br/artigos/20219/botocudos-de-wied-neuwied-a-tragedia-no-vale-do-rio-doce |title=Botocudos: de Wied-Neuwied à tragédia no Vale do Rio Doce |trans-title=Botocudos: from Wied-Neuwied to the tragedy in the Doce River valley |author=Brasiliana Iconográfica |date=February 21, 2019 |website=Brasiliana Iconográfica |access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref> The German botanist Friedrich Sellow, who became known for sending thousands of samples of animals and plants from South America for study in Berlin, died after falling into the waters of the Doce River during his research work in 1831, near Belo Oriente.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://brasil-alemanha.com/capitulo/19sec/A-contribuicao-dos-naturalistas-alemaes.php |title=A contribuição dos naturalistas alemães para as Ciências Naturais no Brasil |trans-title=The contribution of German naturalists to the Natural Sciences in Brazil |author=Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, Luís Fábio Silveira e José Rubens Pirani |website=Brasil-Alemanha |access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Junghans |first=Miriam Elvira |year=2017 |title='Ordenar o mundo e sondar a natureza': o projeto humboldtiano de Friedrich Sellow (1789–1831) |trans-title='Ordering the world and probing nature': Friedrich Sellow's Humboldtian project (1789–1831) |page=184 |publisher=Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) |url=http://ppghcs.coc.fiocruz.br/images/teses/tese_Miriam_Junghans.pdf |access-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526014827/http://ppghcs.coc.fiocruz.br/images/teses/tese_Miriam_Junghans.pdf |archive-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref> Princess Therese of Bavaria was also on the Doce River to collect fauna samples in 1888.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://drd.com.br/historia-do-rio-doce-vi/ |title=História do Rio Doce – VI |trans-title=History of the Doce River – VI |author=Haruf Salmen Espindola |date=December 6, 2020 |website=Jornal Diário do Rio Doce |access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref>
=== Population expansion === [[File:Ponte Florentino Avidos sobre o Rio Doce, Colatina ES.JPG|thumb|right|The Florentino Avidos Bridge in Colatina, inaugurated in 1928, was the first major road bridge over the Doce River.<ref name="Gazeta_Colatina"/>]] In 1900, settlement of the middle and lower Doce River was still almost nonexistent.<ref name="EstaçãoCapixaba_Selva"/> Some of the old quartels gave rise to settlements,<ref name="UFESBotocudos_155a156">{{Harvnb|Marinato|2007|pp=155–156}}</ref> while ports were formed for the exchange of goods involving agricultural and livestock products, as in the case of the Port of Figueira do Rio Doce, which later gave rise to Governador Valadares,<ref name="EstaçãoCapixaba_Selva"/><ref name="Educação_Revista">{{cite journal |last=Siman |first=Lana Mara de Castro |year=2008 |title=Memórias sobre a história de uma cidade: a História como labirinto |trans-title=Memories about the history of a city: History as labyrinth |journal=Educação em Revista |issue=47 |publisher=Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) |doi=10.1590/S0102-46982008000100014 |url=https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/y5yZrZxLq3bNx35xssjkWCR/?lang=pt |access-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526015000/https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/y5yZrZxLq3bNx35xssjkWCR/?lang=pt |archive-date=May 26, 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref> and Colatina.<ref name="Gazeta_Colatina">{{cite web |url=https://www.agazeta.com.br/especialcolatina/colatina-100-anos-de-uma-vila-a-maior-cidade-do-noroeste-capixaba-0721 |title=Colatina 100 anos: de uma vila à maior cidade do Noroeste capixaba |trans-title=Colatina 100 years: from a village to the largest city in northwestern Espírito Santo |author=A Gazeta |date=July 14, 2021 |website=A Gazeta |access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref> However, it was only with the construction of the Vitória to Minas Railway (EFVM) that urban nuclei began to consolidate and expand.<ref name="EstaçãoCapixaba_Selva"/><ref name="Educação_Revista"/> Following the course of the watercourse between Colatina and the present Steel Valley in several stretches, the railway line was responsible for attracting workers and forming cities from where railway stations were built.<ref name="EstaçãoCapixaba_Selva"/><ref name="Metrópoles_EFVM"/><ref name="UFES_EFVM"/>
From 1900 to 1920, the population of the "Forest Zone" of Minas Gerais, corresponding to the valleys of the Doce, São Mateus, and Mucuri rivers, grew 467%, with the Vitória to Minas Railway being the main reason for this increase.<ref name="Unievangélica_177a178">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2015|pp=177–178}}</ref> At the same time that the route of the railway line advanced through the Doce River valley, vast lands, until then occupied by virgin forest, began to give way to agriculture and animal husbandry, mainly from the 1920s onward.<ref name="Unievangélica_161">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2015|p=161}}</ref> In addition, the discovery of abundant reserves of iron ore in what would later be called the Quadrilátero Ferrífero led to the establishment of extraction mines.<ref name="Unievangélica_175a176">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2015|pp=175–176}}</ref>
The creation of the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) – later renamed Vale S.A. – by the government in 1942 aimed to export the iron ore that was extracted from the mining fields in Itabira. Through the railway the production could be transported to the ports of Espírito Santo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fgv.br/cpdoc/acervo/dicionarios/verbete-tematico/companhia-vale-do-rio-doce-cvrd |title=Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) |trans-title=Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) |author=Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) |website=Fundação Getúlio Vargas |access-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref> Also during the first half of the 20th century, the extraction of wood intended for the production of charcoal began, to supply the industries located in João Monlevade and in the Steel Valley.<ref name="Dossiê_Labirinto">{{cite journal |last1=Espindola |first1=Haruf Salmen |last2=Wendling |first2=Ivan Jannotti |year=2008 |title=Memórias sobre a história de uma cidade: a História como labirinto |trans-title=Memories about the history of a city: History as labyrinth |journal=Dossiê: História Ambientel e Cultura da Natureza |issue=39 |volume=24 |publisher=Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) |doi=10.1590/S0104-87752008000100009 |url=https://www.scielo.br/j/vh/a/cd8z7htDw9s56SMqCdSnTcy/?lang=pt |access-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526015112/https://www.scielo.br/j/vh/a/cd8z7htDw9s56SMqCdSnTcy/?lang=pt |archive-date=May 26, 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref> It was in the State's interest to attract large private investments, so foreign investors were allowed to acquire the lands necessary for them to act. In this sense, Belgo-Mineira and Acesita were the main companies administering land for timber extraction in the Doce River valley.<ref name="Unievangélica_193a195">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2015|pp=193–195}}</ref>
Northern Espírito Santo also experienced a period of economic rise in the first half of the 20th century due to the expansion of coffee cultivation<ref name="Unievangélica_193a195"/> and timber extraction. The Vitória to Minas Railway provided a means of transporting coffee production from this region starting from Colatina, causing the city to establish itself as a regional center. The inauguration of the Florentino Avidos Bridge, the first major road bridge over the Doce River, dates from 1928.<ref name="Gazeta_Colatina"/> This whole set of factors, which turned toward the use of the region's natural resources and soil for the generation of profit for the State and investors, culminated in the sudden increase of urban populations on the banks of the Doce River and on its tributaries.<ref name="Unievangélica_193a195"/>
=== Environmental decline === The prioritization of economic activities, mainly timber extraction and agriculture and livestock raising, were the main causes of the suppression of the native forest of the Doce River basin throughout the 20th century.<ref name="Unievangélica_197a201">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2015|pp=197–201}}</ref> From then on the watercourse was directly affected both by the removal of riparian forest<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Gil |first=Andressa Padovani |year=2017 |title=Alterações no corredor fluvial do baixo curso do Rio Doce em 1987 e 2011 – Linhares, ES |trans-title=Changes in the fluvial corridor of the lower course of the Doce River in 1987 and 2011 – Linhares, ES |page=53-54 |publisher=Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) |url=https://geo.ufes.br/sites/geografia.ufes.br/files/field/anexo/andressa.pdf |access-date=May 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527200955/https://geo.ufes.br/sites/geografia.ufes.br/files/field/anexo/andressa.pdf |archive-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref> and by the growth of cities without any urban planning, leading to the unchecked discharge of sewage into its waters.<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Matos |first1=Ralfo Edmundo da Silva |last2=Silva Carneiro |first2=Patrício Aureliano |last3=Felippe |first3=Miguel Fernandes |last4=Garcia |first4=Ricardo Alexandrino |year=2015 |title=SL12 Grandes projetos de mineração, condições de vida e a questão hídrica na região do vale do Rio Doce |trans-title=SL12 Large mining projects, living conditions, and the water issue in the Doce River valley region |book-title=XVI Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Planejamento Urbano e Regional (ENANPUR) |publisher=XVI Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Planejamento Urbano e Regional (ENANPUR) |location=Belo Horizonte-MG |url=https://anais.anpur.org.br/index.php/anaisenanpur/article/download/2455/2433/ |access-date=May 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527201119/https://anais.anpur.org.br/index.php/anaisenanpur/article/download/2455/2433/ |archive-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref>
It was amid the advance of systematic deforestation that Dom Helvécio Gomes de Oliveira began efforts to preserve one of the last large remnants of native Atlantic Forest remaining in the area between the Piracicaba and Doce rivers in the 1930s. In this way, the Rio Doce State Park (PERD) was created on July 14, 1944, the first state park in Minas Gerais.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.diariodoaco.com.br/noticia/0089850-parque-estadual-do-rio-doce-completa-77-anos |title=Parque Estadual do Rio Doce completa 77 anos |trans-title=Rio Doce State Park turns 77 years old |author=Jornal Diário do Aço |date=July 14, 2021 |website=Diário do Aço |access-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ief.mg.gov.br/component/content/195?task=view |title=Parque Estadual do Rio Doce |trans-title=Rio Doce State Park |author=Instituto Estadual de Florestas de Minas Gerais (IEF-MG) |date=October 6, 2021 |website=IEF-MG |access-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref> It should be highlighted that the expansion of the Brazilian road network, mainly between the 1930s and 1960s, included the construction of highways crossing the Doce River. Road links favored local economic activities, especially logging and cattle raising.<ref name="Unievangélica_193a195"/>
At the height of timber extraction, in 1950, Governador Valadares had more than 100 sawmills and Linhares more than 130. However, wood for extraction became scarce and the activity began to enter decline in the 1960s. While the sector's businessmen migrated to regions farther north, the local labor force was overcome by unemployment and forced to migrate to other regions in search of work.<ref name="UFMGDesastre_134a135">{{Harvnb|Milanez|Losekann|2017|pp=134–135}}</ref> This was reflected in the stagnation of population growth in the region, while investments attracted by industry remained concentrated in their host cities.<ref name="Unievangélica_193a195"/> Later, the lands, once occupied by native forest, were used for extensive cattle raising and reforestation with eucalyptus, with the intention of serving industrial demand.<ref name="UFMG_39a41"/><ref name="UFMGDesastre_134a135"/> Describing a trip to the Doce River in the magazine ''O Cruzeiro'', in 1961, Rachel de Queiroz highlighted the riverbanks as deforested areas taken over by plantations and charred trunks.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 25, 1961 |title=As matas |trans-title=The forests |url=http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=003581&pagfis=135316 |author=Rachel de Queiroz |work=O Cruzeiro |issue=20 |page=146 |access-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531191445/http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=003581&pagfis=135316 |archive-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref>
Although the sharp variations in the level of the Doce River between the dry and rainy seasons had been known since before the riverside cities were established,<ref name="UnivaleHistória_32a34"/><ref name="EstaçãoCapixaba_Selva"/> it did not take long for disorderly occupation to be reflected in floods of great proportions, a problem that became recurrent for riverside populations in rainy periods.<ref name="Unievangélica_170">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2015|p=170}}</ref><ref name="Encontro2012_GV">{{cite conference |last1=Genovez |first1=Patrícia Falco |last2=Vilarino |first2=Maria Terezinha Bretas |last3=Superbi |first3=Roberto |year=2012 |title=Populações ribeirinhas e o processo de urbanização: o horizonte histórico das enchentes em Governador Valadares a partir do Jornal Diário do Rio Doce |trans-title=Riverside populations and the urbanization process: the historical horizon of floods in Governador Valadares based on the newspaper Diário do Rio Doce |pages=4–9 |book-title=XVIII Encontro Regional (ANPUH-MG) |publisher=Associação Nacional de História – Seção Minas Gerais (ANPUH-MG) |url=http://www.encontro2012.mg.anpuh.org/resources/anais/24/1340661306_ARQUIVO_PopulacoesRibeirinhaseoprocessodeurbanizacao.pdf |access-date=May 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527201305/http://www.encontro2012.mg.anpuh.org/resources/anais/24/1340661306_ARQUIVO_PopulacoesRibeirinhaseoprocessodeurbanizacao.pdf |archive-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref> Media information provides examples of exceptional floods in 1926, described as the largest in 20 years,<ref>{{cite news |date=April 10, 1926 |title=As enchentes do Rio Dôce |trans-title=The floods of the Doce River |url=http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=572748&pagfis=24640 |work=Jornal Diário da Manhã |author=Mário Arnal Duran |issue=197 |page=3 |access-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531191544/http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=572748&pagfis=24640 |archive-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref> and 1944, when 2,000 families were left homeless in Colatina alone.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 18, 1944 |title=Auxílio da L.B.A. às vítimas da enchente do rio Doce |trans-title=L.B.A. aid to the victims of the Doce River flood |url=http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=221961_02&pagfis=20818 |work=Jornal Diário da Noite |issue=3982 |page=3 |access-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531191645/http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=221961_02&pagfis=20818 |archive-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref> However, the worst of them, during the rains of 1979, left 74 people dead and 47,776 homeless, in addition to 36 km of the EFVM flooded by the waters. In January 1997, another flood of great proportions left 57,705 homeless and two dead.<ref>{{cite conference |last=Castilho |first=Alice Silva |year=2011 |title=Avaliação preliminar da viabilidade do uso de reservatórios previstos para geração de energia elétrica para minimização dos efeitos de cheias na bacia do rio Doce |trans-title=Preliminary evaluation of the feasibility of using reservoirs planned for electric power generation to minimize the effects of floods in the Doce River basin |page=5 |book-title=XIX Simpósio Brasileiro de Recursos Hídricos |publisher=Associação Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos (ABRHidro) |url=http://www.abrh.org.br/sgcv3/UserFiles/Sumarios/a9e3f587b05222dda9344f791a047891_26fdd310ddeb0301f463256b638c1d43.pdf |access-date=May 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228034350/http://www.abrh.org.br/sgcv3/UserFiles/Sumarios/a9e3f587b05222dda9344f791a047891_26fdd310ddeb0301f463256b638c1d43.pdf |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> From 1973 to 2003, at least 12 major flood events were recorded.<ref name="UnivaleHistória_24">{{Harvnb|Espíndola|2021|p=24}}</ref>
The actions of the Serviço Especial de Saúde Pública (SESP) brought investments in sanitation, drainage, and the reorganization of the urban space of Governador Valadares in the 1940s, being effective in combating malaria, paving roads, and cleaning watercourses, but it was insufficient to meet the demand of urban growth in the following decades and flooding problems became recurrent in the lower areas of the city.<ref name="Encontro2012_GV"/> In turn, the construction of the Mascarenhas Hydroelectric Power Plant, in Baixo Guandu, which entered operation in 1972, began manipulations of the level and flow of the waters of the Doce River.<ref name="UFESDesnaturalização_24">{{Harvnb|Dallapicola|2015|p=24}}</ref>
=== The impacted river === [[File:Operação Áugias, Julho-2016 (29077699023).jpg|thumb|right|Reservoir of the Risoleta Neves Hydroelectric Power Plant affected by the Mariana dam disaster in 2015. Photograph from July 2016.]] After the 1979 flood, monitoring operations of the level of the Doce River by public agencies were begun, through rainfall and river-gauging stations.<ref name="CPRM_Enchentes"/> However, concern for the conservation of the river only intensified between the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, because environmental problems were affecting the cities of the basin ever more intensely. Within the context of paying attention to water conditions there was the creation of the Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce (CBH-Doce) and the consolidation of committees in sub-basins from 2002 onward.{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=195–196}}<ref name="UFMG_Superficiais">{{cite thesis |last=Lima |first=Higor Suzuki |year=2016 |title=Qualidade das águas superficiais da bacia do Rio Doce e sua relação com aspectos socioambientais |trans-title=Quality of the surface waters of the Doce River basin and its relationship with socio-environmental aspects |page=78-80 |publisher=Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) |url=https://repositorio.ufmg.br/bitstream/1843/BUBD-AAHGE4/1/disserta__o_final_higor_cd_24_05_16.pdf |access-date=May 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710112652/https://repositorio.ufmg.br/bitstream/1843/BUBD-AAHGE4/1/disserta__o_final_higor_cd_24_05_16.pdf |archive-date=July 10, 2020}}</ref> Coverage by sewage treatment plants expanded, but timidly,<ref name="UFMG_Superficiais"/> reaching 10% of the basin's cities with some type of urban sewage treatment in 2010.{{sfn|Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume|2010|pp=243–246}}
In the 2010s, as a result of the droughts in Southeastern Brazil, the Doce River went through an unprecedented situation of water scarcity.<ref name="UFMG_Superficiais"/><ref name="HojeemDia_Seca"/>
Already severely corrupted, the Doce River course was invaded by the mud from the mining tailings dam of Samarco (a subsidiary of Vale S.A.) that burst in Mariana on November 5, 2015.<ref name="UFMG_Maiordesastre"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.ufjf.br/noticias/2016/01/14/recuperacao-do-rio-doce-requer-tratamento-de-esgoto-e-recomposicao-de-matas-ciliares/ |title=Recuperação do Rio Doce requer tratamento de esgoto e recomposição de matas ciliares |trans-title=Recovery of the Doce River requires sewage treatment and restoration of riparian forests |author=Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF) |date=January 14, 2016 |website=Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora |access-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite report |author=Consórcio Ecoplan-Lume |year=2010 |title=Plano Integrado de Recursos Hídricos da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |publisher=Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Doce |location=Belo Horizonte }}
* {{cite report |author=ANA |year=2016 |title=Conjuntura dos Recursos Hídricos no Brasil: Região Hidrográfica do Atlântico Sudeste |publisher=Agência Nacional de Águas |location=Brasília }}
* {{cite book |last=Dallapicola |first=Renata |year=2015 |title=Desnaturalização e território: transformações socioambientais na bacia do Rio Doce |publisher=Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo |location=Vitória }}
* {{cite book |last=Espíndola |first=Haruf Salmen |year=2015 |title=Vale do Rio Doce: formação histórica e transformações socioambientais |publisher=Editora Unievangélica |location=Anápolis }}
* {{cite book |last=Espíndola |first=Haruf Salmen |year=2021 |title=História do Rio Doce |publisher=Editora Univale |location=Governador Valadares }}
* {{cite book |last=Rosado Alves |first=Lucas |year=2020 |title=Peixes e pesca na bacia do Rio Doce |publisher=Editora UFES |location=Vitória }}
* {{cite book |last=Moreira |first=Eduardo |year=2020 |title=Os Krenak e o Rio Doce: território, memória e resistência |publisher=Editora UFMG |location=Belo Horizonte }}
* {{cite report |last=Coelho |first=André Luiz Nascentes |year=2006 |title=Degradação ambiental na bacia do Rio Doce |publisher=Universidade de Brasília |location=Brasília }}
* {{cite book |last=Milanez |first=Bruno |last2=Losekann |first2=Cristiana |year=2017 |title=Desastre no Vale do Rio Doce: antecedentes, impactos e ações sobre a destruição |publisher=Folio Digital |location=Rio de Janeiro }}
* {{cite book |last=Marinato |first=Francisco |year=2007 |title=Colonização e conflitos no vale do Rio Doce |publisher=Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais |location=Belo Horizonte }}
* {{cite book |last=Barbosa |first=Lúcia Helena |year=2010 |title=O Vale do Rio Doce na formação territorial de Minas Gerais |publisher=Editora PUC Minas |location=Belo Horizonte }}
==External links== {{Commons category|Doce River}} *[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/945 Map of Doce and Jequitinhonha Rivers Copied from Documents Found in the House of Representatives] from the 19th century. {{in lang|en|pt}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
Category:Rivers of Espírito Santo Category:Rivers of Minas Gerais