For the first time in the history of Santiago de Chile, where almost 6 million people live, an unprecedented plan is to be put in place for rationing water due to the devastating summer drought that has afflicted different parts of the country for over 10 years. It’s necessary to prepare “for there to not be enough water for everyone”, announced the governor of the city’s metropolitan region, Claudio Orrego, who went on to specify that the current drought is intrinsically linked to climate change.
The measures announced involve an alert system with four tiers, each with its own colour code from green to red, and which takes into account the water levels of the Maipo and Mapocho rivers, where much of the Chilean capital’s water resources come from.
Specifically, the rationing plan requires that if the water levels of the two rivers dip below certain set values, the water pressure in various districts of the city must be lowered. Moreover, in cases of emergency, water supplies will be suspended in certain districts in rotation every 12, 6 or 4 days, for a maximum period of 24 hours: such a suspension, which would be triggered by a "red" alert, could affect around one third of the city’s residents.
