As the drought in Chile enters its thirteenth consecutive year, authorities announced Monday that they plan to impose a water voucher in the metropolitan area of the capital Santiago.
This is an unprecedented measure.
“A city cannot live without water,” Claudio Orego, the governor of the Santiago metropolitan area, told a news conference. “We are facing an unprecedented 491 years of Santiago history, we must prepare for the possibility that there is not enough water for everyone living here.”
The plan of the authorities envisages the creation of an alarm system with four scales, from green to red. Depending on the level, recommendations will be made to the citizens first, then the pressure will be reduced, and in the final stage there will be rotating water supply to approximately 1.7 million customers.
The alarm system will be based on the water level of the Maipo and Mapocho rivers, from which most of the water that supplies the capital is pumped. The quantity in the two rivers has decreased due to the perennial drought.
Authorities estimate that Chile’s exploitable water resources have shrunk from 10% to 37% in the last 30 years and may have shrunk by as much as 50% in northern and central Chile by 2060.
The deficit in the rivers, which is estimated in liters per second, will determine whether the water supply will be interrupted every 12, 6 or 4 days, according to the authorities. When it is decided to impose a ticket, the holidays will be rotated.
“This is the first time in the history of Santiago that a water bill has been imposed because of the severity of climate change,” Orego said. “It’s important that citizens understand that climate change has come to last. It’s not just global, it’s local. “
Some neighborhoods in the center will be excluded from the measure, due to the high density of residential and corporate customers. Areas supplied with water from wells or other sources other than the two rivers will also be excluded.
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