Within the framework of the fifth Alhsud Chile webinar of 2024, the Agricultural Engineering academic
UdeC proposed that progress should be made in artificial recharge with a territorial perspective, where
He assured that the integration of users is key for joint management, emphasizing
on the role of regional governments in financing common good initiatives.
Recognizing the uncertainty generated by scenarios of high climatic variability, such as the current one, the academic of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of the University of Concepción, Dr. José Luis Arumí Ribera, stated that climate change - which has already arrived, he stressed - will increase the
dependence on groundwater systems.
The hydrology specialist and director of the Department of Water Resources UdeC participated
recently at the fifth webinar of 2024 of the Chilean chapter of the Association
Latin American Underground Hydrology for Development (Alhsud), called
“Users’ organisation, groundwater and climate change: a reality that has already arrived”.
In his presentation “Groundwater and adaptation to climate change”, the researcher
head of the Center for Water Resources for Agriculture and Mining (Crhiam) surveyed the
importance of addressing the management of these aquifers with a territorial approach, where initiatives
such as artificial recharge have as their objective the common good, that is, that of all users of
a basin.
In this regard, he highlighted the efforts of groundwater communities, such as that of
Copiapó, "who have done quite interesting work, demonstrating how progress can be made
with good leadership.” Precisely, in addition to Dr. Arumí, Carlos Araya, spoke at the webinar,
farmer and administrator of the Copiapó Groundwater Community.
"I still don't know if the mega drought is over. In the central-southern region, at least, we have had two years of drought.
good; but there was a very long drought, about 15 years and there is a significant effect, which
is the spread of drought, because underground storage decreased because there is
less recharge. As the water table levels drop, the slopes that generate the summer flows
The rivers are drying up and that is why it takes many good years to refill them.
aquifers to return to pre-megadrought conditions. On the other hand, this also affects
to surface storage; let us remember that Lake Laja reached historic levels, almost
dry up, at 3% of its capacity, but last year, after two large atmospheric rivers, it reached half of its capacity,” the professor contextualized. “That illustrates the tremendous variability
year-on-year that we have and that we have to deal with,” he added.
The UdeC academic maintained that "We are facing a situation that generates uncertainty and
where there is consensus that climate change, that is, increases in temperature and
decrease in precipitation, affects the snow cover. And in some way, that will increase
our dependence on groundwater systems.”
Aquifer Management
Dr. Arumí stated that, during the mega drought, “We were saved thanks to the groundwater.
Today it is easier and cheaper to exploit them. And evidently, there has been a reduction
levels because the availability of groundwater ultimately depends on the amount of
rain; there are articles that show the state of the wells, so now I am very interested in seeing
What will happen after these rain events, if the level of the wells increases?
product of the new recharge, it is something that is in development.”
He noted that "We are talking about a need for groundwater management, to
prevent situations like the one in the Aculeo lagoon from occurring. And for that we have to
understand the functioning of aquifers, the recharge processes, how they are related,”
while emphasizing that the geological condition of the country leads to having very poor aquifer systems
complex. “We can have an idea of where surface recharge could occur, but the
The way in which the recharge will be distributed is quite difficult to determine and that, to a certain extent,
form, has attacked the artificial recharge when it is generated by a private individual in search of a
particular solution. It is very difficult to understand where the groundwater goes,” acknowledged.
The expert added that, in the face of this, progress has been made with some solutions.
recharge, citing as a successful example what the Surveillance Board has been doing for eleven years
of the Diguillín River, whose users use the canals during the winter to generate recharge
aquifers, "but not with a particular view, but rather, with a territorial view, to increase the
basin storage, and I, at least, consider that this is the view that
need".
“One way forward is through artificial recharge of groundwater. We must
give back to the groundwater that saved us in the mega drought. We have different
alternatives to address the issue depending on the characteristics of each territory, but
I think that recharging has to be done with a territorial perspective," said Dr. Arumí.
Along these lines, he pointed out that water conduction during the season must be compatible.
irrigation with recharge during the winter, where he warned that integration between
users for joint management of surface and groundwater within the same
basin. “If I want to give back to the groundwater, I need to recharge it, and for that
I must have surface water; and then I have to manage that recharge, so that needs this
Territorial approach of powerful user organizations", he explained.
This means facing some challenges, such as the financial one.It requires an effort between
everyone. And if we are going to do projects for the common good, someone has to finance them and, in my opinion,
It should be the regional governments. Water management needs everyone's help," he emphasized.
