Managing shrinking water reserves has become such a big ticket item in Chile that the South American nation is giving H2O its own ministry.
The government sent a bill to congress that will transform the Public Works Ministry into the Public Works and Water Resources Ministry, an entity that will oversee and coordinate the 43 institutions in Chile that deal with water.
Belatedly for water rights advocates, the government is trying to improve oversight of arguably the most privatized water system in the world. Broader unrest among Chileans over inequalities, the worst drought in more than a decade and climate change are combining to make water a key topic in the process to draft a new constitution. In parallel, lawmakers are debating changes to water regulations.
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