Chile's proposed reform to secure state ownership of water resources would revoke current unused or misused water rights, possibly affecting utility companies, senator Alfonso de Urresti told BNamericas.
De Urresti, one of the senators who tabled the reform and a member of the government coalition, said the bill would set up a new institutional framework to establish water as a "national resource of public use and not a private good, as it is today."
The proposed reform eliminates individual rights to water resources and reserves these rights for the state.
It also calls for the state to prioritize water uses and mandates authorities to provide potable water and sanitation services. Currently, Chile awards water rights to private consumers, who can trade those rights as they wish.
"Those rights established with a pure speculative purpose would have to be terminated. That's the case of many hydroelectric companies, which hold 80 or 90% of water rights in some rivers," De Urresti said in an interview.
The senator, who belongs to President Michelle Bachelet's socialist party, said the reform has enough support in congress to pass easily, adding he expected the government would speed up the process.
"We expect to move forward quickly and approve it [the reform] in the short term," de Urresti said.
The bill, which also calls for the integral management of water basins and aquifers to improve efficiency, is in line with Bachelet's government program.
According to Chile's environment ministry, 73% of the country's water goes to agriculture, while industry uses 12%, mining 9% and residents some 6%. However, in some areas such as Copiapó valley in the north, where water is scarce, mines account for up to 31% of the available water, and in some areas of region I in the far north, copper producers use up to 60% of the water.
Authorities have acknowledged that the water situation in Chile is worrisome following a five-year drought. Region IV in the center-north, for instance, is facing its worst water crisis in a century, while in some areas overexploitation of aquifers has reduced water resources dramatically.
Last month, Bachelet named a special delegate to review the sector and advise the government on water efficiency, to help coordinate policies between ministries and draw up plans to improve water management.
