Waterway Juan Sutil: "Only by watering Chile can we be an agroalimentary power"
In the region there are numerous examples of water transfer projects and they have been carried out protecting the environmental effects in a perspective of sustainable development. In Peru, the Special Irrigation and Hydroenergy Project of Olmos, transfers the waters of the Huancabamba River, from the Atlantic slope to the Pacific slope, through a trans-Andean tunnel of 20 kms that is below the Andes mountain range. The Olmos Project irrigates 100.000 has and is part of the agricultural transformation of Peru.
In Chile there are great challenges in this context, since climate change, water resources and energy support are three closely related problems and practically any development project or activity implies the need to address these aspects in a comprehensive manner if possible. The predictions of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the research of various Chilean scientific groups indicate that the effects of climate change on the availability of water resources will be the advance of desertification from the north to the south of Chilean territory, with evident changes in the environmental conditions and therefore in the productive capacities in the different regions of the country, with economic and social impacts not yet dimensioned.
Water Road
The Hídrica Highway project, proposed by the Reguemos Chile Corporation, led by the agricultural entrepreneur Juan Sutil, aims to bring water from the south to the north of Chile in order to irrigate 1 million hectares distributed between the Bío Bío and Atacama regions. The project was born to solve the water deficit and thereby generate a million jobs related to agribusiness, generate clean and sustainable energy, revitalize investment, and lead Chile to a leadership position as an agri-food power.
"In addition, in some way we have to take charge of climate change, desertification, forest fires and all of this is done with water. Only with water can you water, contain, plant and give life", Says Sutil.
"If it is possible to irrigate 200.000 hectares in the Copiapó area or 150.000 in the Chillán or Parral coast, it will mean a great stimulus to investment, there will be extra work, and this development will allow the national GDP to grow by 3 points, which means that Chile would reach the average income of a developed country. This brings with it infrastructure, agro-industrial projects and more taxes for the State."Explains Juan Sutil, the main promoter of the project.
Need for a country strategy
In the last 50 years, water has had a relative priority in public policies, because although there have been initiatives such as the Irrigation Promotion Law, which has made it possible to modernize a significant number of hectares, and other efforts in channeling infrastructure and coatings of canals, these have been works of a lesser magnitude. Until now there has not been a development strategy for the country betting on agriculture, despite the fact that the sector has developed very efficiently and has been able to take advantage of the opportunities of a globalized world, transforming itself into export fruit growers. "A clear example is the Coihueco area, where some 20 years ago there was no berry production and there were no companies dedicated to exporting them, and thanks to irrigation works such as the Coihueco Dam, that possibility was opened and today they went from agriculture primary school with a profitability of 200 thousand pesos per hectare to a fruit crop with profits of 5 million per hectare", Sutil points out.
"We have a privileged climate, we have water resources even more than the world average, we are sufficiently isolated from pests and we are the supplier against season par excellence in the Northern Hemisphere. Our mistake is that we do not accumulate water, more than 80% of it is dumped into the sea, we see it pass in winter and when we need it it is not there. There are state investments that are not being taken advantage of, others that were left in the pipeline", Explains Juan Sutil, president of Corporación Reguemos Chile.
Sections
The project requires an investment of USD20.000 million and will travel 1.800 km to bring irrigation water to 1 million hectares in eight regions of Chile, mobilizing between 3.000 and 4.000 million cubic meters and will be divided into five large sections: the first will go from the Bío Bío Region to O'Higgins Region, passing through the Digua and Colbún reservoirs; the second section will be from the Maule Region to the Metropolitan Region, passing through the future Cachapoal reservoir; the third is born in the O'Higgins Region to the Fourth Region, in the Corrales Reservoir; the fourth goes from the Corrales Reservoir to the Puclaro Reservoir, in the Fourth Region, passing through the Cogotí, Paloma and Recoleta reservoirs; and the fifth goes from the Puclaro reservoir to Huasco.
Source: Martín Carrillo O. - Blueberries Consulting
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