Latin America; in English (pdf) - Transboundary Freshwater Dispute ...

there will be more resources available for basic
sanitation services and education of water
conservation practices. This, in turn, will reduce
water pollution and stress on the basin.
3.2.4 Hydropolitical
Vulnerability: The Silala,
a Small-Scale Example
The Silala, a shared river between Bolivia and
Chile, is a current example of how political and
socioeconomic forces can cause a dispute over a
body of water (Figure 3.1). The two perspectives
on this currently shared body of water differ and,
as a result, the political, economic, and hydrological
situation is suffering. This virtually unknown
case illustrates the concept of hydropolitical
vulnerability characterized in the introduction to
Figure 3.1 The Silala Basin.
this report as “the likelihood of conflict rises as
the rate of change within the basin exceeds the
institutional capacity to absorb that change,” on
various levels.
In 1908, the prefecture of the Bolivian
province of Potosí gave a concession of the
waters of the Silala River to a Chilean railroad
company known as the Antofagasta-Bolivian
Railway Company (now called the Ferrocarril
Antofagasta-Bolivia) for the use of the railroad
that traveled between the city of Antofagasta,
Chile, and Oruro, Bolivia.
Bolivia asserts that Chile, in using the water
for the railroad, constructed a series of canals
that made the waters come together and form
the Silala River. Otherwise, the waters of the
springs would have stayed where they were in
Bolivian territory. In other words, Chile constructed
a canal that moved the
water artificially from Bolivia
to Chile.
When, in 1962, diesel
engines replaced steampowered
engines, the Silala
waters were no longer used
for the purpose for which
the water concession was
given (steam-powered
engines) and the water was
diverted for other uses such
as mining and sanitation
services. Since the concession
of the Silala was not for
such uses, Bolivia would like
to charge Chile retroactively
for the 40-plus years it has
been using the waters
(Toromoreno 2000).
In 2000, the Bolivian
government gave a concession
for the Silala waters to
a Bolivian company called
DUCTEC SRL for $46.8
million over 40 years.
DUCTEC, in order to make
money for what it paid for,
decided to charge
CODELCO, the Chilean
national copper mining
company, and Ferrocarril
64 — Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters: Latin America and the Caribbean