Experiential history on the banks of the escalante river // Environmental problems
Background
In the city of San Carlos de Zulia I resided in the year 1966, date in which I began my secondary studies. Lover as I have been of nature since my childhood, I remember recreating myself watching the mighty river, in the evening hours, after leaving the halls of the high school Francisco Javier Pulgar, I climbed the bridge that linked the city of San Carlos and Santa Bárbara , there he remained observing that wonder of nature, which had served as a means of communication for men and women, from Maracaibo, La Cañada de Urdaneta, Cabimas and other cities of Zulia State, to reach these lands during the 1780s. 1800, and they founded this city.
For more than 200 years, San Carlos and Santa Bárbara were bathed all its coasts by the cold and plentiful waters of this river that served as a communication channel between these cities and neighboring cities with the city of Maracaibo. The Escalante river rises in the La Negra páramo in the Venezuelan Andes, passing through the Táchira, Mérida and Zulia states, until it ends at the Lake Maracaibo basin.
The route of the river was very short through the navigation routes of the time (approximately 15 to 20 km) the rest of the route was through the lake to the city of Maracaibo. The boats that were used to navigate the aforementioned route were small boats known by the name of canoes, which at first were mobilized by means of sails and took two to three days to travel, later with the technology advance they were driven by motors , and in addition to passengers they transported a large amount of cargo, using trailers, known as Gabarras. The cities of San Carlos and Santa Bárbara functioned as a primary source for existing commercial relations with Maracaibo and the rest of the world through the routes that covered these small vessels, since Maracaibo is a large seaport that connects the west of the country. with the Caribbean Sea through the bar of Lake Maracaibo.
Taking into account the natural wonders of the Escalante River, where for the time of the years 1966-1970, were years of glory for me in this area, where I practiced sport fishing, where under a gigantic shadow that produced a gigantic saman in the left bank of the river, about 2 kms upstream from the city of San Carlos de Zulia. There I stayed several hours of recreation, I remember fishing some fish which I used to prepare a delicious meal with which I could satiate my appetite under that beautiful saman.
Current problems.
For reasons that I still do not know, the projects began to channel the river, the channeling began physically from about 5 km above the city of San Carlos de Zulia, where the river formed an elbow, the project consisted in aligning the river and in this way eliminate the elbow-like geometric shape, and with this divert its natural course in a straight direction towards the swamp of birimbae, within this malicious project a fixed gate was built that allowed a low flow of the waters towards the original channel of the river that served as detour tool for initial plans.
The materialization of this project was a fact, that a posterior what caused it was the sedimentation of the river and a reality in sight of all the inhabitants that today we see in what was the Great Escalante, a moribund river very similar to a shabby black sewer covered with a large undergrowth that covers it above.
Reflection and considerations
All of the above, gives me grounds to conclude that the hand of man in this case was harmful in all areas where the environmental problem that currently supports the river Escalante can be analyzed.
Along with this channeling and subsequent sedimentation, certain factors that generated a negative environmental impact, these factors are: deforestation and pollution by human activities such as waste water, such as burning among others.
All the activities of commercialization, fishing and tourism were exterminated with the disappearance of the Escalante river, situation that stops us from placing in the first privileged places in which we were several decades ago.
Before everything before exposed, a great question arises:
What future blessed future awaits the river before this situation?
The reflection before this question is to make a call to all the inhabitants of the municipality to focus on stopping the deterioration in which the environment and fauna that surrounds the Escalante River is already immersed, and with this, to recover the spaces that once were . It will also need the help of the authorities on duty to study new feasible projects to the reality that the river lives, and with this what I want to say is that it is not convenient to continue waiting for false promises, that what they are is like we say in our popular slang "warm water cloths".
Images of sustenance of the environmental problem of the river:
River gate:
Explanation: Within what was the application of the project of this gate, was diverting the river to the channel the lagoons of birimbae, reason this would lead to the sedimentation and channel of the mentioned fluvial source.
Large part of the detour:
Explanation of the part of the river that is partially flowing: this section originates from the deviation that was made from where the gate was placed towards the lagoons of birimbae, it is a short route, where the only thing that was achieved is that the original channel of the river was sedimented and it will take the characteristics that I present below:
Current characteristics of the river in the urban part that divides the cities of San Carlos and Santa Bárbara de Zulia:
Final consideration:
This is a particular case exposed by my person (Adan de Jesus Balzán), which, like any other person on this planet, can be affected by the deterioration that any element of nature can suffer, particularly in the Escalante River, a river that this case divides two very important populations such as: San Carlos and Santa Bárbara de Zulia, belonging to the State of Zulia, Venezuela, with this publication I want to call for reflection to take care of what we have, since in my case what one day was place of recreation and tourism, today it was turned into a lonely swamp.
Author: @adanbalzan