Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Scale
Barriers
Bridges
Unchecked economic development and expansion of irrigation
and mining (reportedly impacting the glacier in the upper
basin) pressurising increasingly vulnerable water resources
DOH led projects which aim to mitigate droughts during
scarcity seasons
In other basins, Mesa del Agua were created, and a Mesa
Tecnica has been established for the Aconcagua Project in
order to improve cooperation.
Informality of water management approach (unregularised rights
and high level of illegal abstraction of groundwater)
Pressure from economic actors to open up rights to aquifer,
which the DGA calculate to be unsustainably used
No regional network or institution responsible for water quality
and quantity monitoring - ad hoc studies are outsourced to
private companies - leading to a lack of consistency and
agreement on status of health and amount of water resources
within the basin - no regional evaluation of illegal water
usage in the basin - no baseline to make longer term plans/
vision for the basin
Low institutional capacity and lack of information means that
DGA can take up to 5 years to process a water right claim
(requests should take no more than 6 months)
Institutional fragmentation means that different (but linked)
decision affecting water resources are taken either in DOH or
DGA also mistrust pits DOH against DGA, in that DOH is
perceived to 'collude' with the irrigators, while DGA
attempts to police the water rights situation - so that they are
not held liable for water losses during drought situations once
they have intervened - also causing tensions between the two
institutions on the Aconcagua Project, failing to find a
resolution to the rights situation due to conflicting studies and
opposing views of management of the basin.
Court presence in conflict resolution and water resource
management is deemed a welcome necessity, despite
frustrations with the process, speed and lack of expertise in
water resource issues, since it provides a buffer to potential
corruption within governmental institutions (that is
perceived as common place in Latin American countries)
Institutional potential in the DGA, despite lack of capacity to
fulfil role. Aquifer sustainability, surface and ground water
sustainability, are part of the DGA mandate. The concept
that aquifers are a non-renewable resource, require an
analysis of the impact of each request on the sustainability
of water resources.
Criteria and iterative evaluation for the sustainable use of
aquifers are used by the DGA - supposedly linked with
permanent/definitive rights assignment - additionally
ecological flows do need to be taken into account when new
rights are granted (only new rights left in the basin are for
groundwater)
At the regional level, DGA plans to design and implement
special plans of auditing & action; training for users'
organisations; registration of authorised abstractions - in
order to have certainty about legal and illegal abstraction
points; effective systems of abstraction controls, with the
obligation to inform the authority; coordination and training
with the public attorney, to develop better control and
investigation, in cases of infractions and water theft
(continued)
Search WWH ::
Custom Search