Feasibility Analysis of the Sustainability of the Tres Palos Coastal Lagoon: A Multifactorial Approach

We studied the cultural eutrophication process assessments of coastal lagoons by considering sociopolitical, socioeconomic, demographic, technological, and cultural factors, which represent indirect drivers exerting effects on the eutrophication process, causing changes on the trophic status. Multifactorial interactions in eutrophication processes make understanding their complex dynamics difficult, leading to unreliable assessments and, consequently, to unsustainable management actions. This, in turn, hinders the feasibility of coastal lagoon sustainability. We propose a method based on the evaluation of pathways derived from a multifactorial network, which represents the eutrophication process, with the aim of determining the feasibility of the sustainability of the Tres Palos coastal lagoon. Our findings revealed that most of the evaluations of relationships belonging to pathways were unfeasible due to reasons such as: there was no evidence of the existence of public policies, technological skills, and cultural factors; there was a lack of data related to human settlements around the lagoon and river, industrial waste, agricultural practices, and tourism. The preceding shortcomings hinder the feasibility of coastal lagoon sustainability under study. We suggest that assessments of cultural eutrophication processes that overlook sociopolitical, socioeconomic, technological, and cultural factors are limited and inadequate for supporting the feasibility of sustainable coastal lagoons.