Water Governance in the Context of IWRM: Chile - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 164

Irrigators believe that this removal has punctured the river's seal leading to a drop
in water level, thereby further exacerbating low river flows during the present
drought period of 2010/2011.
In the Aconcagua Basin, the different sections are characterised by different
hydrological contexts. While Sector 1 is at the top of the watershed, Section 2 enjoys
relative water abundance due to the upwelling in the area (groundwater meets surface
water), allowing for comparatively simple illegal groundwater use. Sector 3 on the
other hand is in a more resource scarce area, while Sector 4 sits at the end of the catch-
ment at the mouth of the river and not only has low coverage of agriculture, but less
water availability than the rest of the basin. These contrasting hydrological characteristics
are attenuated by the fact that upstream water right owners are generally able to abstract
their full allocation, while downstream rights holders then enjoy less valuable water
rights due to their inability to guarantee flows being released to their sections.
Finally, the Aconcagua basin is characterised in part as one of the only in Chile
not to have any major regulation works. Irrigation security due to lack of dams, wells
and other major regulation works is therefore seen as one of the biggest issues in the
basin, resulting in a 'loss' of water (mainly in winter - in the non-irrigation season)
to the ocean. Additionally, a lack of investment and maintenance in the water supply
channels is blamed for the general lack of impermeable irrigation channels across
the different sections of the basin, particularly in the areas where the length of the
channels exceed 40-50 kms. For example, the 140 km long Waddington channel in
the basin experiences about 50% loss, which means that farmers at the end of the
channel can on occasion receive no water at all (but instead just rely on groundwater
abstraction). The Waddington was created in the early nineteenth century, with a
soil bed that has settled over the years because of natural condition. Today, leaks
have to be constantly adjusted and losses dealt with, yet it is considered too expen-
sive to invest in the restoration and enforcement of the channels.
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