A treasure trove of Inca gold is found at the bottom of the Laguna de Aculeo, a lake in central Chile, according to ancient legend. Some nights, the locals said, you could even see the gold shining in the pristine waters of the lagoon, which is surrounded by lush hills overlooking the Andean mountains.
But the lagoon, once one of Chile’s largest natural bodies of water, is now completely dry, with no signs of life. There has never been gold, as it turns out. But the locals have realized the real richness of this water.
“I heard birds singing all day because the flora and fauna in the lagoon was spectacular. You could see the fish swimming under the water, it was so clean,” said Viola Gonzalez Vera, who has lived in Aculeo. 70 kilometers (43 miles). ) southwest of the capital, Santiago, for the last 30 years.
The lake bed is now dry and cracked, with signs of frequent drought. The decaying piers mark the place where the water was, like ghosts left behind to remind the locals what this place once was.
Chile has suffered from severe drought in the last decade, with central regions receiving 30% less rainfall than usual. For years, climate change has been believed to be behind the disappearance of Aculeo.
The lagoon had survived for over 3,000 years, despite the fact that Chile was no stranger to drought. In early 2022, hydrology and water management researchers confirmed that the picture was more complex. The main culprit turned out to be human overexploitation.
A lagoon that disappears and makes a living
A review by critics published in the journal Sustainability in January 2022 found that, although below-average rainfall had an impact over the last decade, there was “indisputable evidence” that water had disappeared due to human activity – mainly through diversion of rivers and groundwater abstraction from aquifers replenish the lake
Even after four droughts with persistent low rainfall in the 20th century, the lagoon never came close to drying up, according to the study.
“But throughout the 1990s, agricultural industries began to deviate from these rivers when the state began to cede 100% of the water rights of one river and then another and then another,” said Pablo Garcia. Cevesic, a Chilean professor at the Colorado School of Mining and the University of Arizona and co-author of the report.
In 2010, the Pintue River – an important tributary – was completely diverted. Large-scale farms producing cherries and avocados also created deep wells and pumped water directly from the lagoon.
As a result, “it did not matter how much it rained; for the first time, the lagoon could not support a drought,” said Garcia-Chevesich, who is also a member of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Program.
When the lagoon dried up and the surrounding nature disappeared, so did the tourists. At the same time, nearby farmers saw their crops shrink and the animals die.
Over the years, some in the community had lost access to safe drinking water as new cottages with unspoiled lawns and swimming pools overflowed. But that was nothing compared to the exploitation that took place when avocado and cherry growers settled, locals say.
“I have seen people crying in the street because they did not have water to brush their teeth,” said Gonzalez Vera, who relies on a water tank in her backyard – just meters from where the lake once stood. He fills the tank with water delivered by truck to the village.
Garcia-Chevesich blames the state for the loss of the lagoon and its consequences for the locals. “It is the uncontrolled assignment of water rights without any study or evaluation involving climate change or social or ecological damage.”
It is a story that takes place all over the country.
When water is a commodity and not a human right
The Chilean constitution, written during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, protects private water ownership, making it an economic good. The 1981 Water Code also allows the government to grant permanent and transferable water rights to private owners free of charge.
This created a water market and made it difficult for the state to manage Chile’s water reserves. At Aculeo, for example, no controls were conducted to manage consumption levels before the state granted water rights.
“The water problem in Chile is very deep. It is understood as another resource to be exploited,” said Estefania Gonzalez, campaign coordinator for the environmental NGO Greenpeace Chile.
More than 1 million people across the country do not have access to safe drinking water, and some parts of Chile are experiencing more frequent and prolonged droughts due to climate change. Meanwhile, water has been overexploited by individuals and industry for decades.
Thirsty, extractive industries such as lithium and copper mining drive the Chilean economy. Almost 80% of the country’s fresh water goes to agriculture, mainly avocados. Each fruit needs about 70 liters of water to be produced.
The situation became so dire in Petorca, a town in Chile’s Valparaiso region surrounded by avocado production, that the government declared a “water emergency” by transporting water by truck and distributing 50 liters (12 gallons) a day to each resident.
But the Chileans are questioning the status quo.
A new green vision for the future
Currently, 155 elected representatives from all civil society – most of them independents and leftists – are reformulating the constitution of the dictatorship of Chile, which was a key demand of the deadly nationwide demonstrations against deep social inequality in 2019.
It is a rare opportunity for a country to create a new vision for the future and a vision that prioritizes the environment. For example, 81 of the members of the constitutional assembly supported a Greenpeace campaign to protect water and ecosystem rights in the new constitution.
“We will put an end to the accumulation of stocks and the accumulation of water,” Carolina Vilches Fuenzalida, a conference member and environmental activist, told DW. “We will reduce land grabbing and water accumulation to stop creating these dry valley landscapes.”
Vilches Fuenzalida and other representatives say one of their priorities is to create a statute that will change the legal nature of water, ensuring safe access and sanitation for all Chileans. The proposals will be debated in the coming months and each bill will need a two-thirds majority to enter the final document, before going to a public referendum later this year.
In March, millennial leftist Gabriel Boric will lead a new government after winning the December presidential election. Boric, who has risen to power in a campaign pushing for environmental change, has said he will support constitutional change.
“The whole country is waiting for him. If he does nothing [about the water issues]”We are talking about huge social consequences – we may be talking about a new social explosion,” said Garcia-Chevesich, referring to the 2019 demonstrations.
“But it will be one environmental stallion [environmental explosion]Garcia-Chevesich added.
Edited by: Jennifer Collins
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