El Ciudadano
Original article: Gobiernos Regionales de Valparaíso y Santiago firmaron histórico compromiso por la protección del Río Maipo
Valparaíso and Santiago Regional Governments Sign Historic Commitment to Protect the Maipo River
At the Nature Sanctuary Wetland of the Maipo River, located at the river’s mouth where its waters meet the Pacific Ocean, the Regional Governments of Santiago and Valparaíso have signed a significant bi-regional agreement for the protection and comprehensive regeneration of the entire watershed in the area.
This signing coincided with World Water Day, emphasizing the urgent need to safeguard water sources in light of the accelerating climate crisis.
The Maipo River is a vital artery for human, agricultural, and ecological life in both regions. It supplies water to over 8 million people, supports family farming, and sustains ecosystems that depend directly on its flow.
However, its watershed currently faces increasing pressure from human activities: pollution from industrial, agricultural, and domestic waste, mining operations, riverbed interventions, and illegal gravel extraction, among other factors, heightening the risks to its sustainability.
As such, both regional governments agreed that institutional fragmentation can no longer hinder the defense of a shared ecosystem.
This bi-regional partnership will coordinate actions, plan interventions, and move toward a more resilient territorial governance in response to the climate crisis.
Governor of Santiago, Claudio Orrego, emphasized that «it is no longer enough to recognize the water crisis; we must act decisively. This means advancing in decrees and concrete tools that allow us to protect the Maipo River basin, better regulate water use, and ensure its availability for future generations.»
Orrego reminded that «80% of Santiago’s potable water comes from the Maipo River, and if we do not take care of it from the mountains to the sea, we simply will not have a future concerning water. There is also a national challenge and a challenge for the new government; the economic model must respect the environment and consider communities.»
Meanwhile, Valparaíso Governor, Rodrigo Mundaca, agreed that the Maipo basin «is of great importance. It irrigates the Metropolitan Region and also the Region of Valparaíso. The life of plants, the functioning of the ecosystem, agricultural activities, and even artisanal fishing depend on the Maipo basin; it is extraordinarily important.»
Mundaca pointed out that «on World Water Day, it is essential to reaffirm, once again, our commitment to water, to work every day to make water a common good and an essential human right that cannot be relinquished. On this day, we reaffirm that commitment alongside the Governor of the Metropolitan Region because we understand that this is a basin that unites our regions.»
Socioecological Restoration
During his visit to the area, the Governor of Valparaíso reviewed the progress of the project funded by the Valparaíso Regional Government and executed by the Cosmos Foundation, aimed at the socioecological restoration of the Nature Sanctuary located at the mouth of the Maipo River.
The initiative has successfully removed large volumes of debris, rehabilitated degraded areas, conducted environmental education sessions for the community, and documented the wetland recovery process in a film.
Additionally, the program has fostered volunteerism, monitoring actions, and donated reused plant materials to support local social and agricultural initiatives. Read more about this initiative in the following note published by El Ciudadano last February:
El Ciudadano
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