Groundwater in Chile: NGWA International Brown Bag Series
Groundwater in Chile: NGWA International Brown Bag Series
Presented on Wednesday, November 9, 2016
This half-hour session explores some facts about groundwater in Chile, with a focus on the northern areas, where it is most used.
The occurrence of groundwater systems in Chile is highly varied, with deep fossil aquifers in the north to flood plains in the south. Aquifers are recharged by varying precipitation mechanisms, from tropical summer monsoons to frontal winter regimes, which sometimes are not completely well understood.
Due to extreme arid conditions in northern Chile, groundwater originating in the Andes Mountains is a vital resource, and the main water source for human activities. In this region, many coastal cities and interior towns, as well as most of the mining industry, entirely depend on groundwater sources. Due to pumping, a steady decrease in the groundwater heads have been recorded in the monitoring network.
Speaker:
Sat Sansar Singh
MAYCO Consultores, Santiago, Chile
MAYCO Consultores, Santiago, Chile
Sat Sansar Singh, executive director of MAYCO Consultores, an environmental consulting company based in Santiago, Chile, has more than 25 years of professional experience working in Latin America, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. He has designed and developed more than 200 studies, including some of the biggest environmental assessment projects in Chile, has helped governments design environmental policies and plan for the implementation of international treaties and conventions, and has successfully led negotiations with authorities resulting in more than U.S.$60 million savings to clients. Singh holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from Stanford University.
