Last Tuesday, on March 22nd, in the context of the celebration of World Water Day, the Chilean TV Senade interviewed Mrs Silvia Saravia Matus in a live broadcast concerning the current situation of the water sector in the country and the challenges that it faces. Saravia Matus began by describing Chile's water landscape and highlighted its position as a leader within the drinking water and sanitation coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). However, she also highlighted the difficult moment the country is experiencing with the so-called Megasequía ("mega drought"), which makes it difficult to supply water for multiple uses, mainly due to the systematic reduction in rainfall due to climate change.
Subsequently, Mrs Saravia Matus shared the current challenges related to the climatic aspects, the over-granting of water use rights and articulated governance. She highlighted that in the case of Chile, a transition in water management mainly requires the prioritization of the use of water for human consumption, greater efforts for monitoring and conservation of water bodies, followed by institutional strengthening, for example, through the creation of basin organizations to achieve greater sustainability. In addition, she mentioned the importance of integrated management of water resources in order to include all sectors, institutions and actors from the public sector, civil society and the private sector that interact with the basin in the planning of interventions on water.
The interview was broadcast online on the website of TV Senado Chile and on its YouTube channel, where also the recording can be found.
