The dramatic disappearance of water in Chile (La Tercera)
A team of specialists from the Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica is working on updating the National Water Balance, which dates back to 1987. During 2019, the final report will be issued.
The project is led by Ximena Vargas, academic from the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile. “What has been found in stations measuring precipitation and temperature is that, in general, there are decreases in average annual precipitation and increases in average annual temperature” This, she explains, has generated a decrease in the water availability in some coastal sectors. “Comparing the reported values for water availability (dating from 1987), changes in average annual runoff are around 10% and 37%” she points out.
For more information please visit: La dramática desaparición del agua en Chile: disponibilidad ha disminuido hasta 37% en algunas zonas
My Caption
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of La Frontera. I hold a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Trento (Italy) and completed postdoctoral training at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. I have more than 20 years of experience in water resources research and have previously served as an Associate Researcher at the Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR)2 and as a member of the Earth Sciences Assessment Group of the Chilean National Research and Development Agency (ANID).
My research lies at the interface of hydrology, data science, and environmental sciences, with a particular focus on the use of gridded datasets and open-source tools to investigate droughts, extreme events, and water-related impacts of global change.
I work across spatial and temporal scales to improve the understanding of catchment-scale hydrological processes and to translate this knowledge into operational modelling, forecasting, and early-warning systems that support robust environmental decision-making.
Please reach out to collaborate 😃