The government of Santiago, the capital of Chile, announced on Monday plans to force the city’s roughly 8 million residents to ration water because a decade-plus regional drought has nearly depleted Santiago’s water supply, the website of the Chilean state-run Radio Pauta reported on Tuesday.
Santiago’s municipal government said on April 11 that it devised a plan, together with Chile’s federal government, to enforce water rationing should two rivers (the Maipo and Mapocho, upon which the metropolis depends for most of its water supply) dip below certain levels in the coming days.
In the event that either the Maipo or Mapocho rivers’ water levels become dangerously low, Santiago will observe a multi-level alert system. The scheme will first utilize public service announcements to residents to recommend voluntarily restricting their water usage. If this fails to sufficiently reduce water demand, the alert level increases to forcibly restrict residential water pressure. Rotating drinking water cuts of up to 24 hours will take place beyond this if necessary.
“The water deficit in the [Maipo or Mapocho] rivers, measured in liters per second, will determine if cuts will take place every 12, six or four days. In each case, a different area would face water cuts each day,” Reuters noted on Monday of Santiago’s new alert system.
Sections of the Chilean national capital that rely on alternative water supplies, such as wells and aquifers, are exempt from rationing water. Schools and emergency sites, such as hospitals and fire stations, will not be expected to ration water should an alert go into place.
“From the operational point of view, of course a special plan is required for hospitals, long-stay senior centers, health centers and firefighters. … [Y]ou cannot leave them unsupplied, even in a scheduled outage,” Santiago Metropolitan Governor Claudio Orrego told Radio Pauta during an interview on April 11.
Speaking at a general press conference on Monday, Gov. Orrego told international media, “A city can’t live without water.”
“And we’re in an unprecedented situation in Santiago’s 491-year history where we have to prepare for there to not be enough water for everyone who lives here,” he acknowledged.
Gov. Orrego told Radio Pauta on April 11 that “2021 closed as the fourth driest year [for Santiago] since there are records, with which 13 consecutive years of drought were accumulated.”
He further revealed to Radio Pauta that Santiago’s “aquifers are starting to run out,” suggesting underground water sources may not be able to supplement the city’s river water supply beyond the near future.
In addition to its environmental hardships, Chile has faced economic hurdles in recent months, such as inflation. The nation’s inflation rate “is expected to reach 10 percent by mid-2022,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted on April 7. The news agency made the observation while reporting on a $3.7 billion economic recovery program for Chile announced earlier that same day by far-left Chilean President Gabriel Boric.
Chileans voted Boric, 36, into Chile’s top political office in December 2021. He is a member of Chile’s leftwing “Approve Dignity” coalition, which includes the Communist Party of Chile. Boric supporters in the run-up to his election as president repeatedly organized violent mob attacks on supporters of Jose Antonio Kast, Boric’s conservative campaign rival.