Is it necessary to legislate on the use of sea water and its desalination? The current legal framework for desalinated waters and the analysis of ongoing draft bills
Current diagnosis of water deficit and a foreseeable water crisis of proportions, particularly in northern Chile, not only highlight water priority use for human consumption, but also desalination technologies as suitable means to obtain it, sparking legal initiatives on the subject. This paper delves on the use of seawater in industrial processes, most notably mining and desalination; the latter not only a phenomenon of high socioeconomic impact for Chile, but also of unexpected relevance in regard with the juridical nature of desalinated waters and to clarify the legal framework governing current use of seawater. To that end, the paper examines what desalination is, its purpose and functionality, the juridical object intended to be regulated and its current legal framework as well as two bills initiatives -on the use of seawater in the mining industry and desalination, currently under assessment by the National Congress - exposing their virtues, gaps, failings and implications. The specific purposes of the paper are, firstly, to answer whether or not desalination requires a special regulatory framework in Chile and, secondly, to outline how its potential substitute regulation should be best structured.
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
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Centro de Derecho Ambiental, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Chile
2017
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| Online Access: | https://revistaderechoambiental.uchile.cl/index.php/RDA/article/view/46449 |
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