MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Several Chilean regions facing worst drought in a century

Chile's Agricultural Ministry added this week 46 districts to the growing list of agricultural zones under a state of emergency. The news comes as farmers in small towns in south-central Chile continue to loose crops and livestock due to severe drought, prompting Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to call an emergency meeting in order to address the situation.

The newly added districts are located in Regions VII, VIII, and X; they are found as far north as Curicó in Region VII and as far south as Region X's Quellén, located in far southern Chiloé. Government officials had previously acknowledged drought conditions in Regions IV, V, VI and VII and in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, and the latest addition brings the total number of agriculture disaster zones to 135. Still, out of all the affected areas, Region VII arguably remains the worst hit. Of the 260 rural drinking water (APR) systems in that region, 14 are completely dry, while a similar number are of very poor quality. This means about 10% of the region's water is either not available or undrinkable. In response, Bachelet convened a meeting Monday with officials from the Interior, Public Works, and Agricultural Ministries. During the engagement Bachelet destined the equivalent of 9.6 million US dollars in Agriculture Ministry funds to help bring water to the 46 communities. She also guaranteed drinking water for all affected residents throughout the duration of the drought. "It is very probable that we will not have any rain for the next two months, and this means that the drought will become even more severe," said Rodrigo Weisner, the Public Works Ministry Water Director. "Consequently, the president has asked us to strengthen our efforts to confront the problem. This is one of the worst droughts we have seen in the last 100 years." Agriculture Minister Marigen Hornkohl echoed his concerns. "This is a very serious problem; we are certainly experiencing a harsh drought. We have been making decisions with respect to how to confront this situation, and we will continue to do so in the future," she said. Hornkohl also warned that the drought could lead to price increases, but demanded that farmers not take advantage of the situation through price gauging. "We are in the midst of a very delicate situation that could very well affect Chileans in all parts of the country," she said. "It is important that people do not start taking advantage of the situation by raising prices on products that are not even in short supply." The meeting comes amidst the latest barrage of criticism against the government, as both farmers and opposition politicians continue to lambaste ruling Concertación alliance for responding to the drought with insignificant measures. On Monday, Rodrigo Alvarez and Gonzalo Arenas, deputies for the opposition Independent Democratic Union party (UDI), described the government response to the drought as a superficial formality and said that it falls fall short of meeting farmers' needs. "Designating areas as agricultural disasters zones is a formal measure that merely serves to distribute and redistribute the Agricultural Ministry's own funds. We are not talking about extra resources or extra funds that go towards small and medium-sized farmers in order to confront the drought" Alvarez and Arenas said. The legislators added that, within the next few days, they will request that Hornkohl appear before the Chamber of Deputies and answer questions about how the Agriculture Ministry is responding to the drought. Prior to Monday's announcement, the Agricultural Ministry, along with the Interior Ministry, had already budgeted the equivalent of 22.4 million US dollars toward immediate drought relief throughout the country. On Monday, Hornkohl said that more than 100,000 families had already benefited from those funds Still, a large part of the Agricultural Ministry's relief plan centers on the construction of new reservoirs as well as the renovation of existing ones, a proposal Hornkohl announced last Monday. The ministry's focus on reservoir construction has been strongly criticized by local government officials and farmers alike. The reservoir projects will not be completed until 2014, and local residents are worried about current water shortages. The Santiago Times