Petorca residents rely on tanker water as avocado orchards draw on scarce supply
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Chile's 1981 Water Code let water rights be sold apart from land, and villagers in Petorca have relied on tanker deliveries during drought while avocado irrigation continued. At stake is the local water supply.
- Avocado growers holding water rights — water used for avocado irrigation during the drought PreventionWeb (Reuters)
- Petorca villagers — reliance on tanker water delivered about twice a week FreshPlaza
- Local water supply — about 320 litres of water per avocado against a world average of 70 litres (reported), and at least 65 illegal pipes FreshPlaza
What happened
Under Chile's 1981 Water Code, water rights could be sold apart from land and were granted free and without time limit (Reuters, via PreventionWeb).
Villagers in Petorca have been supplied by tanker, at times about 50 litres per person per day (Reuters, via PreventionWeb), and about twice a week (FreshPlaza 2019).
Chile's water code reform was published in April 2022 despite lobbying, according to Universidad de Chile.
Reports cite about 320 litres of water per avocado in the area, against a world average of 70 litres, and at least 65 illegal pipes (FreshPlaza 2019; Danwatch 2017).
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: about 4,000 illegal wells, a figure cited from a former minister.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: that the 2022 reform gave priority to human consumption.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not state the current level of water supply in Petorca.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Sales boom in Chile's green gold blamed for water shortagesPreventionWeb (Reuters) ·
- Chile's avocado growers blamed for water shortagesFreshPlaza · 2019
- Avocados and stolen waterDanwatch · 2017
Researchers
- Reforma al código de aguas se publica en el diario oficialUniversidad de Chile · 2022-04
Connected cases
- Chile's Decree-Law 701 planting subsidy raised tree cover but cut native forest Chile · 1974–2012
- Government of Chile (Government) — here: Water Code legislator and 2022 reform; there: Set and funded the planting subsidy under Decree-Law 701
- Tompkins Conservation donates land in Chile to state for two new national parks Chile · 2018–2019
- Government of Chile (Government) — here: Water Code legislator and 2022 reform; there: Received the donated land for national parks