Rising water stress in Chile is increasing threats to the country's critical agriculture and mining sectors, while also stoking long-standing social tensions, but further successes in constructing desalination plants would bode well for the country's ability to stave off the most severe impacts of water insecurity. Over the last fifteen years, water scarcity in Chile has escalated dramatically, with a prolonged dry period known as a "megadrought" starting in 2010 and persisting as of 2024. The drought has reduced average rainfall across the country, from the northern Atacama Desert to the historically more water-secure southern Patagonia region. As of 2021, over half of the country's population of 19 million lived in areas facing severe water scarcity, and the same year approximately 8% of the population was found not to have access to drinking water, according to the Chilean Ministry of Social Development. These challenges are the result of climate change...
