Assessment of the Requirements within the Environmental Monitoring Plans Used to Evaluate the Environmental Impacts of Desalination Plants in Chile

Abstract

Seawater desalination represents an alternative solution to face the challenge of water scarcity in Chile. However, the uncertainty toward potential environmental impacts of desalination plants represent a barrier to achieving water sustainability and socioeconomic development in Chile. This study aimed to assess the quality of environmental monitoring plans (EMP) and determine the aspects to be improved within it, in order to enhance the management of desalination plants during the operation phase and guarantee a sustainable development of the activity. The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Environmental Impact Studies for seawater desalination projects published in the Environmental Impact Evaluation System (SEIA) in Chile between 1997 and 2018 were reviewed. The results of the brine production from desalination plants showed a significant increase in the last decade (about 1.6 Mm3 per year estimated according to the projects approved or under implementation). The EMPs data show heterogeneity and increasing requirements over time, which can be attributed to the governmental effort to improve environmental protection. Furthermore, a high frequency of irrelevant descriptors was identified in the current EMPs. The study thus recommended standardizing the environmental requirements included in EMPs based on empiric scientific knowledge to enhance the environmental protection programs in Chile.

How to Close the Gap of Desalinated Seawater for Agricultural Irrigation? Confronting Attitudes between Managers and Farmers in Alicante and Murcia (Spain)

“…Furthermore, perception is directly influenced by environmental impacts of desalination, because desalination has great potential to change the physical, chemical, and ecological characteristics of the marine environments. For example, the salinity of brine discharges from reverse osmosis plants is up to double that of seawater, and these discharges often contain chemicals that may be toxic or induce stress responses to marine organisms [25][26][27].…”

Sustainable desalination: Long-term monitoring of brine discharge in the marine environment

“…Given that the collective characteristics of desalination effluents can produce negative effects on marine ecosystems if proper mitigation measures are not applied (De-la-Ossa-Carretero et al, 2016b;Del-Pilar-Ruso et al, 2015;Fernández-Torquemada et al, 2013) (Ibrahim et al, 2018). The uncertainty in various countries surrounding the environmental impact of desalination may represent a barrier for desalinated water production (Sola et al, 2019a).…”

Physiological and metabolic responses to hypersalinity reveal interpopulation tolerance in the green macroalga Ulva compressa with different pollution histories

“…Salinity is a determinant abiotic factor for growth and development in macroalgae; changes in salinity in the marine environment can occur due to natural conditions such as estuarine or tidal range, and also anthropic activities as desalinization brine discharges (Rybak 2018;Luo and Liu 2011;Sola et al 2019b;Sola et al 2019a;Fernández-Torquemada et al 2009). Hypersalinity can produce osmotic stress, manifested in aspects such as cell dehydration, Na + and Claccumulation, and in changes in K + /Na + and Ca 2+/ Na + ratios due to selective uptake and organic osmolytes accumulation (Kirst 1990;Kumar et al 2014;Marín-Guirao et al 2013;Sandoval-Gil et al 2014;Garrote-Moreno et al 2015).…”