STRENGTHENING AND PROMOTING WATER EFFICIENCY IN CHILE

By December 2025, the Water Efficiency Law will have been reviewed in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
The Government (Ministries of Public Works, Environment and Agriculture) introduced this bill on September 1, 2022, which was approved in general and in particular by the Senate Water Resources Committee (29.12.2022). It is currently being reviewed by the Finance Committee and is expected to be sent to the Chamber of Deputies before July 2023.
Among the characteristics of this Law, the following stand out: a) It encourages water efficiency in the public sector and in productive sectors, b) It has rules for promotion, education and incentives, including competitive funds, c) It mandates that in all public agencies (central, regional and communal level) Management Units responsible for developing and implementing a Water Efficiency Action Plan in their facilities are constituted, d) Regulates the creation and monitoring of Indicators (and certification) of water efficiency, e) Establishes standards for the protection of watercourses and streams, enabling the recharge of aquifers, f) Establishes obligations to use rainwater in the construction of facilities and non-residential buildings with an area equal to or greater than 5,000 m2 , g) Regulates the use of rainwater in the construction of facilities and non-residential buildings with an area equal to or greater than 5. 000 m2 , g) Regulates the participatory preparation, implementation and monitoring of a National Water Efficiency Plan, and h) Contains a set of legal adjustments to Law 19,300 on the Environment and Law 18,838 on the National Television Council to enable lower-cost broadcasting campaigns.
Legislative urgency will be given to the Water Efficiency Law, which is a power of the President of the Republic, for which reason a maximum term is established to be dispatched by the Chamber of Deputies and Senators, with which the approval of said law is prioritized in the discussion table.