ARPHA Proceedings 7: 1-9, doi: 10.3897/ap.7.e0001
A Concerted Proposal Based on an Imminent Collapse Scenario for Groundwater Management in an Overexploited Aquifer, Atacama Desert
Edwin Pinovargas© Edwin Pinovargas. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Pinovargas E (2024) A Concerted Proposal Based on an Imminent Collapse Scenario for Groundwater Management in an Overexploited Aquifer, Atacama Desert. ARPHA Proceedings 7: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3897/ap.7.e0001 |  |
Abstract
The overexploitation generated by the inefficiency for the application of the legislation on the closed state in the Caplina aquifer, has generated the progressive deterioration of the quality of groundwater due to salinization processes due to marine intrusion. Based on a review of causes and effects, there is an urgent need to incorporate a concerted proposal from the users themselves and the state entities for the comprehensive management of groundwater, which will prevent the deterioration of its quality. The concerted proposal is based on four key points (1) review of the current status of the aquifer system regarding the deterioration of its quality due to overexploitation of groundwater, (2) review of water use licenses, (3) reallocation of water use and of its net benefits and (4) verification and validation of the balance of the aquifer system. This simple proposal is expected to work in the face of the imminent collapse of the aquifer system.
Keywords
Atacama Desert; water science; water resources law; groundwater; public politics