Codelco requests non-extractive use for its water rights in Ollagüe

Codelco requested the General Directorate of Waters to authorize the change of modality to non-extractive for a consumptive groundwater right of 150 liters per second in the commune of Ollagüe, province of El Loa, Antofagasta Region. The request was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,588, on Monday, November 2, 2026, Section II, under official reference CVE 2892415. The process is resolved by the Regional Director of Waters of the Antofagasta Region.

The process and its legal basis

The submission by the National Copper Corporation of Chile (Codelco), RUT 61.704.000-K, is based on article 129 bis 1 A of the Water Code and Supreme Decree No. 53 of the Ministry of Public Works, dated March 30, 2023, which specifically regulates changes in the modality of usage rights.

The request is for the right—consumptive, groundwater, of permanent and continuous exercise—to be declared non-extractive for environmental conservation purposes. The committed flow is 150 l/s as an annual average and a total annual volume of 4,730,400 m³, within a Common Use Hydrogeological Sector (SHAC) without a specific name, in the same highland commune.

Four wells and their flow rates

The right is currently extracted via mechanical lift from four wells, with the following maximum flow rates:

• CHU-23B: 150 l/s, coordinates 7,589,534 North / 589,709 East (datum 1956, Zone 19).
• CHU-24B: 100 l/s, 7,589,745 North / 590,259 East.
• CHU-35B: 50 l/s, 7,589,978 North / 589,590 East.
• CHU-44B: 80 l/s, 7,589,468 North / 590,407 East.

For use for conservation purposes, the request establishes new points in UTM coordinates datum WGS 84 Zone 19S: CHU-23B (7,589,159.25 / 589,524.10), CHU-24B (7,589,370.22 / 590,074.08), CHU-35B (7,589,603.23 / 589,405.11) and CHU-44B (7,589,093.22 / 590,222.11).

Origin of the right and background

The usage right was established through DGA Resolution No. 141, dated April 7, 2004, in favor of Codelco, and is registered on page 42, number 30, of the Water Property Registry of the Real Estate Registrar of Calama, corresponding to the year 2004.

The published extract states that further details are available at the General Directorate of Waters, Antofagasta Region, without the notice detailing deadlines for opposition or third-party observations.

Why it matters

The decision rests on the water balance of the Antofagasta plateau, where the availability of groundwater conditions both mining activity and the ecosystems and communities of the sector. If authorized, Codelco will stop extracting up to 4,730,400 m³ annually from the same hydrogeological sector and will allocate them to environmental conservation, a change of destination that the General Directorate of Waters must resolve and which will be recorded in the Official Gazette.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,588, Monday, November 2, 2026, Section II, pp. 1-2 (official reference: CVE 2892415).