In 2005, one of the amendments of the Water Code created a tax on unused water rights. As the international energy sector controls the majority of Chile’s water, especially in the South, anterior motives becomes clear. Economic incentive to profit off of the resource rather than pay to maintain potential future use is obvious. Furthermore, the same amendment provided the ability for the General Directorate of Water Authority to cancel and redistribute unused water rights, incentivizing development. I am interested as to whether 1. this mobilization was the intent of the amendment, and 2. what changes are required to shift political obligations from the energy sector to the conservation of these increasingly fragile resources.
Investigations by Lydia Bleifuss