Chile faces a long drought for more than a decade and currently the 72% the surface of the country suffers it to some degree. In fact, 156 of the 345 communes in the country already presents risks of desertification, which could affect almost the 40% of the population.

Hydrological models estimate that some basins will decrease their flow in a 30%, although one of the extreme models indicates that it could reach up to 50% for the period 2030-2060. One of the areas possibly most affected would be the Cordillera de la Maule region, the most important region for fruit production.

Raindrops

Regarding the last precipitations, George Valenzuela, president of the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile (Fedefruta) stated: “This week's frontal system, which in fact was much lower than expected in some agricultural areas, barely lowered the deficit of rainfall that has us in the hardest year we have lived, by far (…) it is hardly a relief if we think that, depending on the valley, there are rain deficit between 80 and 90% ”.

According to the president of Fedefruta, this week's rains would not have made the news 20 years ago, and “it is an example of how the weather is behaving. If we don't do something now, next year similar phenomena will surely happen and we will be talking about the same thing ”.

"We have not done anything strategic"

The fruit leader insisted that in Chile there is a structural problem that deepens the effects of the water crisis due to a lack of policies and investment to guarantee human consumption of water and food security. "On the water issue, we have not done anything long-term strategic as a country, and we have everything to do in terms of policies and sustainable public investment to ensure water," said Valenzuela. "If during these years we had built medium-sized basin reservoirs, this rain would have been a gift of proportions for the agricultural sector, if we had had the right direction in a context as harsh as climate change and drought."

In this sense, Valenzuela recalled that Chile in the past designed energy and road strategies to solve its challenges, and that it is time to do the same with the water crisis. "From now on we ask the MOP, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Mining or Energy, to give priority number one to this in a coordinated way, as well as to listen to the solutions that are being proposed by experts, academics, entrepreneurs, innovators and foundations that lead years studying and proposing solutions ”.

Breaking records

According to the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), “this 2021 will be the driest in history, we will even surpass the year 2019 that had the record for the lowest rainfall since records are available. It took us only two years to break a record that was more than a century old and it is likely that in 2023 we will break the same record again ”.

According to greenpeace, Chile is the country with the greatest water crisis in the entire Western Hemisphere. The forecasts of the Directorate of Meteorology of Chile (DMC), say that "a positive turnaround is not in sight" of the sustained trend to the decrease in rainfall that this year reaches until 80% in some areas.

Urgent plan

"We require specific works, with budgets, deadlines and formulas to implement now," concluded the fruit union leader. “As a union, we continue to wait for the long-term executive's proposal for the problem. Due to the seriousness of this crisis, we propose a working group with the participation of all the actors in the elaboration of a plan within 30 days, to socialize at the national level ”.