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Lessons From Spanish and US Law for Adequate Regulation of Groundwater Protection Areas in Chile, Especially Drinking Water Deposits

Author

Listed:
  • Verónica Delgado

    (School of Legal and Social Sciences of the University of Concepcion
    Universita Degli Studi in Rome)

  • José Luis Arumi

    (School of Agricultural Engineering and CRHIAM of the University of Concepcion
    University of Nebraska)

  • Oscar Reicher

    (School of Legal and Social Sciences of the University of Concepcion
    University of Concepcion)

Abstract

The hypothesis of the present work is that the groundwater regulations of the Chilean Water Code are insufficient because they look only at quantitative aspects of interest to owners of water rights, but do not serve to protect the quality of the aquifer as a common good. To prove this hypothesis, a legal and technical review of how groundwater catchment protection areas are regulated in Spanish and US law, especially when used for human consumption, was carried out. After this review, we contrasted these regulations with Chilean standards, particularly the Water Code and Supreme Decree 203 of 2013. We concluded that there are at least two substantial differences: a) Chilean legislation does not impose any restrictions on the establishment of polluting activities near the drinking water collection point, emphasizing the quantity of the resource rather than the protection of its quality. The law prevents only the opening of new groundwater collection points near the first. In addition, b) the protection area is not variable; it always remains the same regardless of the intended objective, site characteristics or the speed at which a contaminant advances.

Suggested Citation

  • Verónica Delgado & José Luis Arumi & Oscar Reicher, 2017. "Lessons From Spanish and US Law for Adequate Regulation of Groundwater Protection Areas in Chile, Especially Drinking Water Deposits," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(14), pages 4699-4713, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:31:y:2017:i:14:d:10.1007_s11269-017-1761-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-017-1761-z
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