Governance of Water in Southern Chile: An Analysis of the Process of Indigenous Consultation as a Part of Environmental Impact Assessment

Abstract

The management and organization of water resources shapes complex territorial scenarios. This is seen in south-central Chile, where the construction of hydropower plants in Indigenous territories has strained relations between the state, the Mapuche people and hydropower companies. We analyze the Indigenous consultation process to identify the relations between actors and the role of state institutions to evaluate the extent to which these facilitate collective action. Using a case study methodology and qualitative analysis, we identify challenges to water governance, which relate to the degree of heterogeneity of communities; power inequalities within the consultation process and their influence on structures of decision-making.

Keywords:

• Governance
• heterogeneity
• indigenous communities and resource management
• power relations
• water resources

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the persons who granted their time to participate in this research and shared their experiences and stories. We would also like to thank the reviewers whose comments have helped to enrich the manuscript.

Notes

1 This could change under the constitutional process, which includes reserved seats for Indigenous participation, and was launched with the referendum in October 2020.

2 The authors translated all direct quotes from the interviews from Spanish to English.

3 Kimche is Mapudüngun and refers to a wise person. Those considered kimche are valued ancestral authorities in the Mapuche culture. A machi is a doctor or a healer who cures Mapuche diseases. The machi is the only one authorized to climb the rewe, the bridge between the natural and the supernatural.

4 Lafkenche is composed of the particles lafken which means sea or lake and che, which means person or people. Thus, the Lafkenche are people of the sea and are territorially linked to water bodies.

5 Ngen is linked to the Mapuche cosmology and refers to a spirit owner in the territories. In their narration, the interviewees refer to the ngen as the spirit of things and places. For example, the ngenko is the spirit of the water. The ngen are present all over the territory. They have powers and are responsible for the protection of the places. This power is called newen, thus the power of the water ngen or ngenko is called newenko.

6 Mapudüngun or Chedüngun is an oral language. There are currently three graphic calendars in force. For this paper, the words or concepts are written based on the Mapudüngun–Spanish, Spanish–Mapudüngun Dictionary of Fray Felix de Agusta.

Additional information

Funding

The present work was financially supported by the Chilean Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID) through the Fondecyt de Iniciación [11180970].