Authorities will implement a plan to ration water in Santiago’s metropolitan area. The plan involves a four-tier system with varying degrees of urgency. Cuts will depend on water deficits in the Maipo and Mapocho rivers.
Regional authorities announced a water rationing plan for Santiago’s metropolitan area as resources are depleted amid a 13-year drought. “We are in an unprecedented situation in Santiago’s 491-year history where we have to prepare for there to not be enough water for everyone who lives here,” Metropolitan region governor Claudio Orrego said at a press conference.
He also said that “it is important for citizens to understand that climate change is here to stay.” An end to the mega-drought is not in sight. The government estimated that national water availability dropped by 10 percent to 37 percent over the last 30 years. Nearly all rivers in the central and northern regions are suffering critical flow deficits.
Orrego said the burden would not fall on citizens alone. He urged the state, companies, and the agricultural sector to adopt a water scarcity culture. However, the water rights regime defined in the current Constitution perpetuates deep access and distribution inequalities. A reform is on the agenda of the Constitutional Convention that is currently drafting a new Magna Carta.
"En toda la historia de #Stgo jamás se diseñó un protocolo para un eventual racionamiento de agua. La tarea de todos ahora es evitar que se aplique y mejorar el consumo responsable y ahorro de un recurso tan valioso y escaso como el agua" en @T13 @canal13 pic.twitter.com/g2wChMV1ta
— Claudio Orrego L. (@Orrego) April 12, 2022
A tiered alert system
The four-tiered system’s degrees of urgency range from Green Alert to Red Alert. Initial steps comprise public service announcements emphasizing water conservation, followed by two steps that involve lowering water pressure, and finally rotating water cuts of up to 24 hours. The system depends on the measured capacity of the two rivers which supply most water to the capital.
The plan covers around 142,000 households that are supplied by the Mapocho river, which flows through the city from east to west, and another 1.54 million households supplied by the Maipo river in the south. Rationing will also depend on rainfall during winter, officials said.
Through frequent measurements of water deficit levels, authorities will determine if cuts will take place every 12, six or four days. These will only be implemented in one sector of the city at a time. Areas receiving water from other sources besides the two rivers — such as well water — will be exempt.
Stephanie Iancu just graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and she is aiming to go on and earn a postgraduate degree in Journalism. Her main areas of interest are politics, women’s rights, human rights and culture. She is currently taking a gap year and staying in New York while interning at Chile Today.