Paraná–Paraguay Waterway

The Paraná-Paraguay-Uruguay Waterway is characterized by the implementation of an engineering project aimed at creating a system of navigable channels along the Paraguay and Paraná rivers, as well as some of their selected tributaries. The main objective of this project is to enable the constant traffic, 365 days a year, of shallow-draft vessels with high cargo capacity, focusing on the transport of minerals, fuels, and agricultural products as the main goods.

To achieve this goal, various river engineering measures will need to be implemented, including the straightening of watercourses by eliminating meanders, widening the river by removing riparian vegetation, enhancing safety through appropriate signaling systems, eliminating islands and islets using controlled explosive techniques, and finally, deepening the riverbed through dredging operations.

According to the project, the waterway will extend from north to south, from the Brazilian city of Puerto Cáceres in the state of Mato Grosso to the Paraná Delta, emptying into the New Palmira Port in the Colonia Department of Uruguay.

The countries that share this river system —Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay— carried out an initial phase in which they promoted comprehensive studies to assess the economic, technical, and environmental feasibility of the necessary improvements to ensure the sustainable use of the water resources in question. These countries established the Intergovernmental Waterway Committee (CIH) as the coordinating body for these initiatives, through which agreements were formalized with international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Financial Fund for the Development of the River Plate Basin (Fonplata), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Andean Corporation of Development (CAF) to carry out the relevant studies. Between 1988 and 2010, there was a significant increase in the transportation of goods along this waterway, from 700,000 tons annually to nearly 17.4 million tons per year. Subsequently, this transport volume continued to grow significantly, surpassing the current figure of 36 million tons per year. In terms of the composition of the cargo, the importance of soy and its derivatives as the dominant products stands out, followed by iron and fuels.