Do technical transitions guarantee water security for all? Chile is facing an unprecedented water crisis, attributed to a 12-year megadrought that is linked to climate change. At the same time, political and economical interests maintain water accumulation in the hands of productive sectors (mainly mining and agriculture) worsening water conflicts and insecurity for both rural and urban populations. Although Chile is making important adaptacion advances in terms of policy-making, through a new climate change law and sectoral adaptation plans, its transitions are merely technological and imply maladaptation practices. This work critically examines Chile's efforts to achieve water security for human consumption, focusing on two main strategies for delivering water for human consumption in water-stressed regions: water trucks and seawater desalination. Results show that Chilean water transitions do not guarantee water security for all actors, leaving women, and other groups vulnerable to climate change, exposed to water scarcity and insecurity. https://www.geographie.uni-bonn.de/en/events/do-technical-transitions-guarantee-water-security-for-all https://www.geographie.uni-bonn.de/++resource++plone-logo.svg

Chile is facing an unprecedented water crisis, attributed to a 12-year megadrought that is linked to climate change. At the same time, political and economical interests maintain water accumulation in the hands of productive sectors (mainly mining and agriculture) worsening water conflicts and insecurity for both rural and urban populations. Although Chile is making important adaptacion advances in terms of policy-making, through a new climate change law and sectoral adaptation plans, its transitions are merely technological and imply maladaptation practices. This work critically examines Chile's efforts to achieve water security for human consumption, focusing on two main strategies for delivering water for human consumption in water-stressed regions: water trucks and seawater desalination. Results show that Chilean water transitions do not guarantee water security for all actors, leaving women, and other groups vulnerable to climate change, exposed to water scarcity and insecurity.