干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

In the Andean highland of the Tarapaca Desert (Iquique Province) most of the Chilean mining richness can be found, especially copper. In this zone, despite semi-arid conditions, there are abundant groundwater resources in several and vast aquifers of sedimentary and volcanic type. However these aquifers are located in closed basins containing a wetland area that acts like a final sink in the groundwater circulation system. Many of these wetlands support ecosystems that house conspicuous endemic species; and also, they are crucial sites for the resting and nesting of some migratory birds. This condition is recognized and protected by the Chilean environmental laws. On the other hand the current legal context in force, considers water rights grants from the government to private ones, as a domain character and not as a concession. This and the previous situation, shape circumstances in which the environmental government agencies must act in a holistic way in the technical and legal evaluation of mayor mining projects that would like to make an intensive use of groundwater. In this context, the Environmental Impact Evaluation System is the instance that regulates the cooperation between the public and the private sector. Sometimes, it is difficult to get off from these evaluation processes the political pressure and the normal social-economic expectations caused by projects that generate employment and economic dynamism in the area.