On Wednesday, November 26th 2025, I participated as a speaker at the seminar “Hidrodesafíos Chile 2025: Opportunities and Challenges in the Sanitation Sector” organized by the Sanitation Services Concessionaire Company S.A. (ECONSSA Chile) with sponsorship from the Chilean Association for Water Rights (AChDA) and Fundación Chile.

This event took place from 8:30 hrs at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the Las Condes district, with the objective of addressing the future of the sanitation sector in a context of water scarcity and climate change, and analyzing the role of seawater desalination and wastewater reuse in confronting the water crisis.

My presentation was entitled “Water Challenges in Southern Chile”, in which I addressed three key challenges for water resources in the Araucanía Region:

  1. changes in the hydrological regime of mountain catchments and their impact on projected spring and summer streamflows,

  2. selection of indices and timescales used to monitor droughts and the importance of linking them with droughts impacts on the territory,

  3. the role of soil moisture in peak streamflows generated by intense storms, and preliminary results from an early flood warning system currently developed for critical basins of the Araucanía Region.

At the end of the day, representatives from the two presidential candidates debated the future of the healthcare sector in the context of water scarcity and climate change.

More information and the program for the event can be found at econssachile.cl/hidrodesafios-2025

Foto_MZB Debate_sanitario