The Collaborative Model That Transforms the Management of the Biobío Basin

For years, disputes between the agricultural sector and hydroelectric companies marked water management in various Chilean basins, generating seemingly irreconcilable tensions. However, in recent decades, this relationship has begun to transform: dialogues have emerged that have given way to unprecedented agreements, with shared benefits for agricultural production and energy generation. A concrete example of this new way of relating is experienced in the Biobío River basin, where what began as a focus of conflict—the construction of the Ralco hydroelectric plant in Alto Biobío—ended up giving way to an exemplary collaboration model, driven by its Surveillance Board, between the energy industry and the agricultural world. "At that time, significant differences effectively arose around the construction of the hydroelectric plant in Alto Biobío," recalls Juan Vallejos, manager of the Biobío Negrete Canal Associators and president of the Biobío River Surveillance Board (JVBB). "The ...