What does science says? Water Security

Expert: Dr. Ricardo Barra Ríos
Department of Aquatic Systems, Faculty of Environmental Sciences

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What is water security?

Water security comprises providing all water users with sufficient quality water to meet their demands. Therefore, it is a question of implementing actions to promote management that allows water conservation and satisfies society’s needs.

How is access to water for its different uses guaranteed in Chile?

In Chile, the Water Code is the legal instrument that determines how water is managed in the country. A recent reform from 2022 guarantees the priority of human access to water. With this, Chile is catching up with the so-called Human Right to Water, consecrated in 2010 by the United Nations. So, if it were not a priority, even though the priority was given to productive activities in practice, human access becomes very important. 

In Chile, the human (potable) use of water occupies 5-8% of all available water. However, we know that water is not distributed homogeneously in the territory. We have a severe water deficit in the northern-central part of the country and an abundance of resources in the extreme south (in Patagonia), so we must face these inequalities in access to this resource with the development of infrastructure and technology. For example, water desalination can be used to supply industrial and urban use in cities in northern Chile, such as Antofagasta.

What measures can be adopted to improve water management?

There are several, including two that are important: the first, and as recommended by the OECD, is to have a central water management agency. Currently, the dispersion in its management is substantial, preventing more effective resource management. 

Secondly, more territorialized water management through watershed management must be implemented. Finally, the pressure imposed by poor resource management during megadroughts is forcing the State to establish new protocols, now more based on scientific knowledge, for more efficient resource management in the context of the climate crisis. 

We certainly need to develop research more actively on how to address the growing complexities of water management. In this sense, centers such as EULA and CRHIAM of the University of Concepción are contributing to better preparing for a future in which improvement in water management is possible.