**4. Discussion**

Although the effects of climate change on the water availability of Chile are well-known, or well-guessed, by the majority of people, their needs and demands in water are continuously increasing. For instance, the official organization in charge of water management (DGA, Dirección General de Aguas in Spanish) is still granting new rights for water exploitation in the regions of the north of Chile in spite of the thresholds of natural recharge of the aquifers having been already exceeded [5]. In addition, in this work we are not addressing further effects of this water scarcity such as salinization, really negative in semiarid countries such as Algeria [12].

In the north of Chile, the use of water is related to mining activities. The price of copper has significantly increased and it has supposed catalysis in mining activities, i.e. a much higher consumption of water by these companies [4]. Other sectors such as the energetic (e.g. hydroelectric) are also intensifying their pressure on water resources since they are now living an expansionist time [3], perhaps provoked by many decades of criticism against the use of fossil energies such as petrol and coal or the pressure exerted by conservationists that consider wind turbines to be dangerous for birds [13].

Regarding the agricultural sector, water is progressively being more demanded because of the growth of population in Chile and the increase in the amounts of products exported to the global market [14]. It is provoking a higher scarcity and

**15**

conclusions.

*The Availability of Water in Chile: A Regional View from a Geographical Perspective*

more competition for water in the whole country. In fact, Larraín and Poo [3] have reported a worrying increase in the number of conflicts related to (spatially unequal) water management. Most of these conflicts are happening in the central and north of Chile where water has become a valuable good due to erratic climatic conditions (Mediterranean and semiarid climates) and increasing pressure of the

Water management will be a challenging question for any regional and national government of Chile. The reserves of water in the aquifers and the estimation of the accurate consumption of water by people, mining, and different commercial crops such as avocado will decide the sustainability of this valuable resource. Specifically, in the agriculture, the recent crops (thought for exportation) are important consumers of water. In fact, most of them grow naturally in tropical conditions, and

The branch of knowledge, with an outstanding global success, that is dealing this problematic is being the ecohydrology, recently popularized and key as scientific support for making decisions on water and land management properly by the political power [16]. So, we consider countries at risk of having serious problems of water availability; Chile, Spain, and Israel, for instance, should pay more attention and promote more specific research programmes for ecohydrologists. Studies on land capability of some crops and on the sustainability of traditional systems such

Another challenging task both for scientists and decision-makers is the proper scale of work. Here we have emphasized about the existing differences between the 16 administrative regions of Chile, but it is totally necessary to know the mechanisms that rule in a leaf, plant, farm, and catchment, among other work scales. In addition, the rights for water exploitation granted by the DGA should be very strict in terms of the total amount of water per year that each company must utilize. These rights should vary in time according to the rainfall variability or presumably increasing in evapotranspiration, i.e. companies and/or public agencies should have

Another aspect that can be also discussed by the scientists and decision-makers, although it is not the *leitmotiv* of this work, is the usefulness of using long-term datasets. It means an extraordinary effort in monitoring many parameters linked to water and vegetation is still needed since datasets of more than 10 years are still infrequent [17]. Some published works based on long-term datasets [18, 19] have contributed to understand the interrelationships between ecohydrological processes and the time of adaption with respect to the arrival of environmental changes.

In this study, we have shown the variation in water surplus for 2050, but nothing has been mentioned about the synergetic interaction between water and vegetation. The presence of vegetation is a cause and consequence of the presence of water and vice versa [15]. For instance, the spatial vegetation patterns exert a strong control on the spatio-temporal variability of soil moisture and, consequently, on water infiltration or redistribution of water through soil macropores [20]. In addition, it is soil moisture content who determines species phenology and biomass production [21]. The works published on this topic in the last decades have served to understand

that the existing relationships abovementioned between water and vegetation parameters are nonlinear. According to Scheffer et al. [22], these relationships are based on thresholds, i.e. some properties keep on a stable status until they cross a certain threshold. It means that ecosystems of Central Chile that traditionally have been Mediterranean (dry subhumid) can change to semiarid and keep steady for decades and centuries. Nonetheless, the concept of stable status has just arrived to the studies of ecohydrology. So, further research is still necessary to draw definitive

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92169*

they are produced in Chile by using irrigation water [15].

as the *espinal* we think are more necessary than ever.

tools for monitoring water reserves constantly.

economic sectors [4].

### *The Availability of Water in Chile: A Regional View from a Geographical Perspective DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92169*

more competition for water in the whole country. In fact, Larraín and Poo [3] have reported a worrying increase in the number of conflicts related to (spatially unequal) water management. Most of these conflicts are happening in the central and north of Chile where water has become a valuable good due to erratic climatic conditions (Mediterranean and semiarid climates) and increasing pressure of the economic sectors [4].

Water management will be a challenging question for any regional and national government of Chile. The reserves of water in the aquifers and the estimation of the accurate consumption of water by people, mining, and different commercial crops such as avocado will decide the sustainability of this valuable resource. Specifically, in the agriculture, the recent crops (thought for exportation) are important consumers of water. In fact, most of them grow naturally in tropical conditions, and they are produced in Chile by using irrigation water [15].

The branch of knowledge, with an outstanding global success, that is dealing this problematic is being the ecohydrology, recently popularized and key as scientific support for making decisions on water and land management properly by the political power [16]. So, we consider countries at risk of having serious problems of water availability; Chile, Spain, and Israel, for instance, should pay more attention and promote more specific research programmes for ecohydrologists. Studies on land capability of some crops and on the sustainability of traditional systems such as the *espinal* we think are more necessary than ever.

Another challenging task both for scientists and decision-makers is the proper scale of work. Here we have emphasized about the existing differences between the 16 administrative regions of Chile, but it is totally necessary to know the mechanisms that rule in a leaf, plant, farm, and catchment, among other work scales. In addition, the rights for water exploitation granted by the DGA should be very strict in terms of the total amount of water per year that each company must utilize. These rights should vary in time according to the rainfall variability or presumably increasing in evapotranspiration, i.e. companies and/or public agencies should have tools for monitoring water reserves constantly.

Another aspect that can be also discussed by the scientists and decision-makers, although it is not the *leitmotiv* of this work, is the usefulness of using long-term datasets. It means an extraordinary effort in monitoring many parameters linked to water and vegetation is still needed since datasets of more than 10 years are still infrequent [17]. Some published works based on long-term datasets [18, 19] have contributed to understand the interrelationships between ecohydrological processes and the time of adaption with respect to the arrival of environmental changes.

In this study, we have shown the variation in water surplus for 2050, but nothing has been mentioned about the synergetic interaction between water and vegetation. The presence of vegetation is a cause and consequence of the presence of water and vice versa [15]. For instance, the spatial vegetation patterns exert a strong control on the spatio-temporal variability of soil moisture and, consequently, on water infiltration or redistribution of water through soil macropores [20]. In addition, it is soil moisture content who determines species phenology and biomass production [21].

The works published on this topic in the last decades have served to understand that the existing relationships abovementioned between water and vegetation parameters are nonlinear. According to Scheffer et al. [22], these relationships are based on thresholds, i.e. some properties keep on a stable status until they cross a certain threshold. It means that ecosystems of Central Chile that traditionally have been Mediterranean (dry subhumid) can change to semiarid and keep steady for decades and centuries. Nonetheless, the concept of stable status has just arrived to the studies of ecohydrology. So, further research is still necessary to draw definitive conclusions.

*Resources of Water*

**14**

**4. Discussion**

**Figure 3.**

*for 2050.*

dangerous for birds [13].

Although the effects of climate change on the water availability of Chile are well-known, or well-guessed, by the majority of people, their needs and demands in water are continuously increasing. For instance, the official organization in charge of water management (DGA, Dirección General de Aguas in Spanish) is still granting new rights for water exploitation in the regions of the north of Chile in spite of the thresholds of natural recharge of the aquifers having been already exceeded [5]. In addition, in this work we are not addressing further effects of this water scarcity such as salinization, really negative in semiarid countries such as Algeria [12].

*Differences between the averaged values of the period 1970–2000 and those foreseen by the predictive models* 

In the north of Chile, the use of water is related to mining activities. The price of copper has significantly increased and it has supposed catalysis in mining activities, i.e. a much higher consumption of water by these companies [4]. Other sectors such as the energetic (e.g. hydroelectric) are also intensifying their pressure on water resources since they are now living an expansionist time [3], perhaps provoked by many decades of criticism against the use of fossil energies such as petrol and coal or the pressure exerted by conservationists that consider wind turbines to be

Regarding the agricultural sector, water is progressively being more demanded because of the growth of population in Chile and the increase in the amounts of products exported to the global market [14]. It is provoking a higher scarcity and

Every ecosystem is controlled by the availability of water that it is naturally provided, but it can be worn up by human activities. In the ecosystems in which water is naturally abundant, the control of ecohydrological processes is ruled by the level of the water table [15]. Meanwhile in Mediterranean and semiarid ecosystems, ecohydrological processes are adapted to different moment or pulses ruled by water surplus or deficit in the non-saturated soil zone [23]. To investigate these mechanisms and processes to better understand the sensitivity of each ecosystem face environmental disturbs is the main challenge of the ecohydrology.
