Browsing by Author "Lillo, Mario"
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Item Legal disputes as a proxy for regional conflicts over water rights in Chile(2016) Rivera, Diego; Godoy Faúndez, Alex; Lillo, Mario; Alvez, Amaya; Delgado, Verónica; Gonzalo-Martín, Consuelo; Menasalvas, Ernestina; Costumero, Roberto; García-Pedrero, AngelWater demand and climate variability increases competition and tension between water users agricultural, industrial, mining, hydropower- and local communities. Since 1981, the Water Code has regulated water allocation through private individual property rights, fostering markets as the distribution mechanism among users. When legal conflicts occur between parties, it is the responsibility of the courts to settle the conflict. The aim of this research is twofold: first, to apply a geographical approach by mapping water conflicts using legal disputes reaching the higher courts as a proxy for conflict intensity and second, to explain the diversity of water disputes and how they vary regionally. We built a representative database with a sample of 1000 legal records corresponding to decisions issued by the Supreme Court and 17 courts of appeal throughout the country from 1981 to 2014. For geo-tagging, all records were transformed to plain text and analyzed to find words matching the entries of a geographical thesaurus, allowing records to be linked to geographical locations. The geo-tagging algorithm is capable of automatically populating a searchable database. Several maps were constructed using a color scale to visualize conflict intensity. Legal disputes represent different types of conflicts among water users, such as competition between agriculture and hydropower. Processed data allowed the identification of the regional variation of conflicts. The spatial pattern for the intensity of conflicts related to specific sections of the Water Code is explained in terms of the main geographical, climatic and productive characteristics of Chile. Geo-tagging legal records shows a strong potential to understand and define regional variation of water conflicts. However, data availability would become a barrier if measures to improve data management were not taken. Regarding the institutional framework, the same regulations for water management rules are applied throughout the highly diverse ecosystems of the country, impeding the resolution of conflicts that are strongly related to the local geographical context. This leads to a collision of interests and visions around water resources of both a public and private, extractive and non-extractive uses, national, and international nature of individuals, aboriginal communities, and corporations, especially mining industries. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Publication Shifting dry spells in Central Chile: Implications for agriculturalwater planning(2025) Latoja, Daniela; Rivera, Diego; Lillo, Mario; Godoy-Faúndez, AlexChile’s agricultural production occurs in a highly variable Mediterranean climate and faces declining annual precipitation trends as well as growing competition from other uses. Water availability for agriculture depends on winter precipitation; however, a more even distribution of precipitation throughout the year would better support agricultural planning and management. We examine the occurrence, frequency, and trends of dry spells in Central Chile (32˚–40˚ S) as a proxy for changes in the timing of dry-wet seasons, using a gridded daily precipitation dataset spanning the period from 1960 to 2021. Our results indicate a significant increase in dry spells (+1 event/decade), but shorter (−2 days/event), and a significant decrease in precipitation per wet spell (−2 mm/event/decade). Findings suggest that changes in dry spells should also be considered in planning and policy, as some regions may be experiencing water shortages due to shifts in timing and access, rather than simply having less water. Plain Language Summary Chile’s agriculture occurs in a region with variable precipitation and temperature year-to-year. Water for farming mainly comes from winter precipitation, but better year-round distribution is needed for effective planning. We analyzed the occurrence of consecutive dry days during the fall-winter and spring-summer seasons. We found that there has been an increase in dry spells, as well as a decrease in precipitation volume per wet spell. Changes in dry spells should be considered in agricultural planning and policy, as some regions may face water shortages due to timing and access issues, in addition to reduced water availability.