Chile’s drought has reduced mine output in the world’s largest copper producer, stoked tensions over water use for lithium and agriculture, fueled forest fires, and prompted the nation’s capital to make unprecedented preparations for water rationing.
Twenty years ago, the Penuelas reservoir in central Chile was the primary water source for the city of Valparaiso, holding enough water to fill 38,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The historic 13-year drought in South America has caused precipitation levels to plummet, leaving Penuelas with only enough water to fill two pools.
What was once a lake bed is now a vast expanse of baked earth dotted with fish skeletons and thirsty animals.
We must beg God to send us water,” said Amanda Carrasco, a 54-year-old resident of the area surrounding the Penuelas reservoir who recalls line fishing for pejerrey fish in the waters.
He told, “I’ve never seen it like this.” There was less water in the past, but not like there is now.
The drought has reduced mine output in the world’s largest copper producer, stoked tensions over the use of water for lithium and agriculture, fueled forest fires, and prompted Santiago to make unprecedented preparations for water rationing.
The animal breeder in the Chilean village of Montenegro, Segundo Aballay, is hoping for a change soon.
“We will have nothing to do if it doesn’t rain this year,” he said. The animals are progressively deteriorating and dying.
Jose Luis Murillo, general manager of ESVAL, the company that provides Valparaiso’s water, stated that winter precipitation was once reliable but is now at record lows.
“What we have is essentially a puddle,” he said, adding that the city currently relies on rivers. This is especially significant when you consider that the Penuelas reservoir was Valparaiso’s only water source several decades ago.
Snow in the Andes, which normally yields water as it melts in the spring and summer, is melting faster or even turning directly to vapor due to rising air temperatures.
According to scientific studies, the problem is caused by a global shift in climate patterns that sharpens natural weather cycles. According to a study, ozone depletion and greenhouse gases in the Antarctic are aggravating weather patterns that steer storms away from Chile.
Duncan Christie, a researcher at the Center for Climate and Resilience in Chile, told Reuters that a 400-year analysis of tree rings demonstrates how rare the current drought is. It has unparalleled duration and intensity.
He stated that the Andes mountain range, which he referred to as the country’s “water towers,” was not being replenished, which meant that when spring snow melted, there was significantly less water to fill rivers, reservoirs, and aquifers.
An engineer and water expert who went to measure snow cover near the station at Laguna Negra in central Chile found “nothing” to measure.
According to a 2019 study published in the International Journal of Climatology, changing weather patterns may alleviate the drought in the future, depending on how much humans reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the study predicted “only a partial recovery of central Chile precipitation in the decades ahead.”
The Environment Agency has warned that the United Kingdom could face water shortages by 2050 if measures are not taken to conserve supplies.
