Chile’s current Minister of Energy is finalizing a Watershed Mapping Study to prioritize hydro development in conflict watersheds. If implemented as policy, the study would facilitate construction of several large dams in the Yelcho Watershed, as well as dams in at least six other major watersheds. In the Yelcho watershed, the company which owns the water rights and would benefit from the policy is Endesa, the same company which dammed the Bio Bio River and was a partner in the HidroAysen project which was defeated in 2014. If the Minister of Energy is allowed to implement the study as national policy, it will make it easier for Endesa to gain approval for building dams in the Yelcho watershed, particularly along the Futaleufu River. The study has produced significant conflict in the Comuna of Futaleufu, which rejects national efforts to sacrifice its rivers for hydropower. |