Understanding the Silala River—Scientific insights from the dispute over the status and use of the waters of the Silala (Chile v. Bolivia)

Wheater, H. S.; Peach, Denis; Suárez, Francisco; Muñoz, José F.

doi:10.1002/wat2.1663

Cited by 13 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…The Silala River system is a high-elevation transboundary watershed shared by Bolivia (upstream) and Chile (downstream). It is located in the Andean Plateau of the Atacama Desert (locally called Altiplano), approximately 300 km northeast of Antofagasta (Wheater et al, 2024). The Silala River originates in Bolivian territory and flows towards the Antofagasta Region in Chilean territory (Figure 2).…”

Section: Location Of the Silala Basin And The Basin Delineationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Silala River originates in Bolivian territory and flows towards the Antofagasta Region in Chilean territory (Figure 2). The Silala River is one of the main tributaries of the San Pedro River, which in turn is a tributary of the Loa River that discharges to the Pacific ocean (see Figure 1 of Wheater et al, 2024).…”

Section: Location Of the Silala Basin And The Basin Delineationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1999, Bolivia claimed in a diplomatic note to Chile, and in 2016, Bolivia's then President, Mr. Evo Morales, also claimed, that Chile was illegally using Bolivia's water (CM, Vol. 3, Annex 72;Wheater et al, 2024). This political-diplomatic controversy, concerning the origin and uses of the Silala's water, generated the need to carry out scientific studies across multiple disciplines in both countries, to achieve a better understanding of the Silala River system.…”

Section: Based Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The field measurements aimed to quantify the surface and subsurface flows of the wetlands and spring system, under current (channelized) conditions as well as in their natural state. Lagos et al (2024) and Wheater et al (2024) present maps of the current (channelized) conditions of the Bolivian wetlands. The collected information was used to develop a conceptual model of the system functioning, including the key hydraulic, hydrological, and hydrogeological drivers (DHI, 2018).…”

Section: In Situ Data Collected In Boliviamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These basins often face challenges due to increased water use and in consequence, local and regional political stability can be affected (UNEP, 2008). Some are located in remote areas in which hydrometeorological data are scarce and their hydrological functioning is not well understood (Wheater et al, 2024). In such cases, more scientific data, education and training are essential, as well as transnational water resource management policies that define more clearly the role of governments (UNEP, 2008).…”

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Introduction to the Silala River and its hydrology

et al. 2023

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The Silala River basin is located in a remote area in the Andes Mountain range, where hydro‐meteorological and hydrogeological data are scarce. Consequently, the hydrological functioning of this river system was not well understood. Due to a dispute between Chile and Bolivia over the status and use of the waters of the Silala River, Chile requested the International Court of Justice to adjudge the Silala River system to be an international watercourse. To support the case, scientific studies were carried out in both countries to fill hydrological and hydrogeological knowledge gaps. This article reviews the Silala River basin topographic characterization, historical water use, and the dominant hydrological processes, and briefly summarizes an enhanced monitoring programme, reported in more detail elsewhere in this Special Issue. The longitudinal topographic profile and river slope show that Silala fluvial system is an exorheic watershed; waters from the Cajones and Orientals wetlands in Bolivia, the two headwater sources of the Silala fluvial system, naturally flow from Bolivia to Chile, demonstrating that the Silala River system is indeed an international watercourse. New hydro‐meteorological, hydrological and hydrogeological measurement stations were installed in both countries and provided improved process insights and spatiotemporal coverage within the basin. These new observations helped to populate hydraulic, hydrological, and hydrogeological models, aimed to improve understanding of the functioning of the system, including the effects of historical disturbance due to channelization of the Bolivian wetlands.This article is categorized under: Science of Water > Hydrological Processes Human Water > Rights to Water

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Section: Location Of the Silala Basin And The Basin Delineationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Location Of the Silala Basin And The Basin Delineationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Based Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: In Situ Data Collected In Boliviamentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Introduction to the Silala River and its hydrology

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Groundwater modeling of the Silala basin and impacts of channelization

Taylor¹,

Peach²

2023

WIREs Water

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A key issue in the legal case before the International Court of Justice between Bolivia and Chile concerned artificial channels in the headwater wetlands of the Silala River in Bolivia, and their impact on the river and groundwater flow rates across the international border into Chile. In pleadings before the Court, Bolivia had claimed up to 40% changes in river flow, whereas Chile had maintained that these were much smaller. This paper reviews construction of a numerical groundwater model to quantify this impact, based on the hydrogeological conceptual model presented earlier in this volume. The groundwater model domain covers the Silala River topographical catchment, plus three adjacent closed (endorheic) topographical catchments to the northeast, which together form the groundwater catchment of the Silala River. The geometry was based on a 3D geological model, constructed based on knowledge gained from several geological mapping investigations. Surface water flows were simulated within a margin of error less than the range of uncertainty associated with the flow measurements. The resulting calibrated groundwater model was used to simulate scenarios corresponding to (a) the removal of channels in the Bolivian wetlands and (b) backfilling of the channels and a small increase in ground elevation (postulated by Bolivia due to long term peat accumulation). The results of these scenarios indicate that the measures would result in a small reduction to the surface water flow over the border to Chile; for Scenario A less than 1% change in surface flows, and for Scenario B less than 3%.This article is categorized under: Human Water > Rights to Water Science of Water > Hydrological Processes Human Water > Water Governance

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Investigating the effects of channelization in the Silala River: A review of the implementation of a coupled MIKE‐11 and MIKE‐SHE modeling system

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A dispute between Chile and Bolivia regarding the status and use of the waters of the Silala River, resulted in proceedings before the International Court of Justice, initiated in 2016. The magnitude of the effect of historical channelization in Bolivia on surface water flows emerged as a major point of disagreement. Based on modeling by the Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI), using the MIKE‐SHE and MIKE‐11 modeling systems, Bolivia suggested initially that the channels had increased surface flow by 30%–40% and later by 11%–33%. In the opinion of Chile's international experts, these effects would be small. This paper reviews the use of DHI's models by Bolivia and, subsequently, by Chile. Concerns about Bolivia's modeling raised by Chile included the selection of boundary conditions, inconsistent use of the two models for different scenarios, the use of inconsistent topographies for different scenarios, unexplained additions of water and numerical instabilities affecting the results. To investigate these discrepancies, additional simulations were performed by Chile. DHI's MIKE‐SHE and MIKE‐11 models were used for all scenarios, with consistent topography, spring and surface water flow representation. Numerical instabilities were reduced by adjustment of time steps and channel topography. These simulations showed that removing the channels reduces surface flow by a maximum of 3.5 L/s, or 2.4%. The sum of the groundwater and surface water outflow decreases by 2.6 L/s or 1.0%. This small decrease lies within the modeling error but is consistent with the expected effect of minor changes in evaporation.This article is categorized under: Science of Water > Hydrological Processes Human Water > Rights to Water Science of Water > Methods

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Understanding the Silala River—Scientific insights from the dispute over the status and use of the waters of the Silala (Chile v. Bolivia)

Cited by 13 publications

References 15 publications

Introduction to the Silala River and its hydrology

Introduction to the Silala River and its hydrology

Groundwater modeling of the Silala basin and impacts of channelization

Investigating the effects of channelization in the Silala River: A review of the implementation of a coupled MIKE‐11 and MIKE‐SHE modeling system

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