Chile has had years of drought. In productive and social terms, how has this situation affected the agricultural sector?

By Tu Jarvis for Chile California Council newsletter

Chile, like California, has a Mediterranean climate marked by a rainy winter season and a dry summer season. Chile’s rainfall also occurs in a relatively few events each year with total rain fluctuating significantly from year to year.  Because rainfall is highly variable from season to season and year to year, irrigation is crucial to agriculture – and water storage is important to provide water during the growing season (and for urban consumption). 

 Historically, Chile and California have suffered drought when precipitation has been low for several years in a row – and each suffered severe droughts during the last decade.  Climate change is causing rising temperatures and, for Chile, a secular decline in annual rainfall.  Water is becoming increasingly scarce, reducing supplies for irrigation, livestock, and urban communities, particularly small rural communities whose water wells often compete with farmers’ wells.  When crops cannot be planted or fail for lack of water, livestock cannot be watered, farmers lose income, farm laborers lose jobs, input suppliers and crop processors lose markets, and rural merchants lose customers. Men, women and children have no water to drink or to use for bathing and sanitation.  Chile’s welfare decreases and conflict among social groups can increase.  

 How could progress be made in consensus mechanisms regarding public policy and required regulation, to understand water as a shared resource between people, the environment and food production?

 Some want Chile to capture and move water from water abundant areas to water scarce regions.  Chile’s physical terrain makes large water transfers uneconomic.  Chile should instead focus on short-distance water movements (mostly within the same watershed), improving irrigation management, creating incentives for water urban/industry conservation, improved water markets and groundwater recharge.

 California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014 because agricultural producers and cities were convinced that a lack of groundwater regulation was leading to a dangerous crisis and limiting economic prosperity. SGMA led to the development of local management agencies in 137 watersheds. The state sets goals and authorizes a local agency to develop a long-term sustainability plan and manage groundwater in that watershed. The law says that if the local agency fails, the state can intervene.  

 Chile should consider a SGMA-like law to manage all water, surface and groundwater, within each major watershed.  Chilean water law assigns water rights to surface and sub-surface water, but rights often exceed the water available. If water management were broadened from the canal level to the watershed level, direction from the agencies extended to all interested in water management, e.g., farmers, urban populations, industries and environmental organizations, water conflicts could be resolved better. The government should establish goals for these agencies oversee their implementation, providing financial and technical support to develop the scientific knowledge needed for decision making at the local level.