Water Policy in Chile

This book offers a detailed examination of the main sources of Chile's water, its principle consumers, the gap between supply and demand, hydrological droughts, and future projected impacts of climate change. It describes, analyzes and evaluates the performance of water policies, laws and institutions, identifies the main challenges that Chile needs to face and derives lessons learnt from Chile's reform experience.

Expert contributors discuss such topics as Chile's water policy, and the reasoning which explains its policy reform. The book presents and evaluates the performance of the legal and institutional framework of water resources. It also describes efforts to meet actual demands for water by augmenting supplies with groundwater management, waste water re-use and desalination and improve the state of water ecosystems. The last chapter presents the editor's assessment and conclusions.

The case of Chile is illustrative of a transition from command and control to market based management policies, where economic incentives play a significant role in water management.

Auteur
Guillermo is and Agricultural and Natural Resource Economist from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and holds a Ph.D from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park. Full Professor of Agricultural Economics Department and Water Law and Management Center of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Has held the position of Dean of the Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile from 1998 to 2007 and National Director Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias de Chile.

Contenu

1. Introduction.- 2. Social Economic context and Water Demand.- 3. Hydrological Setting.- 4. Water quality: Trends and Challenges.- 5. Legal Framework of Water Resources.- 6. Institutional Framework.- 7. Water quality policy.- 8. Environmental Flows as a Tool for Water Resources Management in Chile.- 9. Water User Associations.- 10. Water Rights Markets.- 11. Irrigated Agriculture.- 12. Water and Mining.- 13. Hydroelectricity.- 14. Urban Water Management.- 15. Rural Water Management.- 16. Desalinization, Reuse, Water Basin Transfers.- 17. Integrated Water Management in Chile.- 18. Chilean Experience and International Implications.