Starting on November 3, 2025, Chile will have two new protected rivers in the country, following the government’s approval of the declaration of ecosystem water flow reserves for the Puelo and Futaleufú rivers in southern Chile.

 

“The reform of the Water Code establishes that water fulfills different functions, mainly subsistence, which include use for human consumption, sanitation, and domestic subsistence, as well as ecosystem preservation and production,” said Rodrigo Sanhueza, the head of Chile’s national water agency (DGA).

 

Sanhueza added that the government’s decision was driven by the local communities. “In this case, the communities of Futaleufú and Cochamó live off sustainable tourism, recreational fishing, and family farming, and have been staunch defenders of their rivers in order to maintain a balance between local development and the conservation of the species that thrive in these rivers."

 

These two new protected rivers are thanks to reforms to the nation’s water laws in 2022, which significantly strengthened ecosystem protections for rivers. In addition to giving Chile’s president authority to establish water flow reserves for ecosystem preservation, which was used to protect the Futaleufú and Puelo rivers, there were several other pro-environment provisions.

A clear hierarchy for water allocation was set up, giving preference to human consumption and sanitation, followed by ecosystem preservation.

 

The reforms also created non-extractive rights: It is now possible to request water rights for in-stream environmental purposes, such as conservation and sustainable tourism. This provides a legal mechanism for safeguarding water flows necessary for healthy ecosystems.

 

The new regulations also prohibit granting new water rights in glaciers and expands protections for wetlands and marshes, and the reforms to the Water Code mandate the creation of Strategic Water Resources Plans for all river basins, which must integrate a vision of water security, ecosystem conservation, and stakeholder participation. 

 

Rodrigo Condeza, co-founder of the regional conservation group Puelo Patagonia, told Patagon Journal that these two new protected rivers stem from many years of work. "We are delighted with the creation of the Puelo River water reserve for conservation purposes, a dream shared by communities, social organizations, and river defenders who fought one of the most important environmental battles in our country. Thanks to their efforts, projects such as Mediterráneo dams on the Manso River and Enersis dams on the Puelo River were prevented from changing this territory forever. For seven years, we accompanied this process with technical support, helping to bring this to fruition.”

 

Says Condeza: “The Cochamó River has been a flow reserve since 2009, and together with the Petrohué, Puelo, and Futaleufú rivers, the Los Lagos region now has the most protected rivers in the country."

 

Still, Condeza also points out that less than 1 percent of Chile’s rivers have any degree of protection, and as such he stresses the country has a long way to go in river protection. 

Paulo Urrutia, executive director of the river protection group Bestias del Sur Salvaje, called the creation of these water flows reserves an "historic achievement.” He said it demonstrates that in Chile "another way of doing politics is possible.”

 

"A protected river is a community that is no longer threatened. It is a society that allows itself to broaden its view of development with one hand in the present and one step into the future,” said Urrutia. 

 

Binational cooperation is essential in protecting rivers, and it will continue to be so, adds Urrutia. He points out that the five rivers that the current leftist government of Gabriel Boric says it intends to protect — the Futaleufú, Puelo, Palena, Yelcho and San Pedro — all belong to binational watersheds shared with Argentina.

 

“In January, we will have the first Academy of Protected Rivers. It will be binational, and in a way, that opens up a huge space for us to talk about hydrodiplomacy, which has to do with how water can often be a source of conflict, but it can also be a source of connection and convergence between countries. This comes at a time when the UN is talking about water for peace."