Water shortage: Chile’s lithium industry in the Atacama Desert under scrutiny

Lithium mining in Chile’s Atacama Desert exacerbates water stress in an already arid region.

Debate rages over the industry’s true impact as the government begins to review the exploitation of the desert’s resources.

In Chile, water management is at the center of an ongoing dispute between mining companies, the government, environmental activists, and some communities living near the Atacama salt desert.

The region is one of the driest in the world, rarely receiving more than two millimeters of rain per year.

Therefore, water stress and droughts are part of the ecosystem of local communities that now have to live with the growing lithium industry.

Lithium is a key component in producing batteries for electric cars and was recently added to the EU list of critical raw materials considered essential for producing electric car batteries, cell phones, and laptops.

Chilean salt flats have the largest mineable reserves in the world. But opinions differ on how they should be used.

Christian Espindola, a farmer who lives near the salt flats, said he worries about the future of his country.

In an interview conducted by the media company Reporterre as part of a 2021 investigation, he called for “the mines to disappear.” Juana Ansa Conzalez, a resident, reiterated that lithium mining should not continue to expand.

“Lithium mining is only a temporary window, while agriculture is a long-term process,” she told EURACTIV in February.

WATER STRESS

As the lithium sector develops, more and more farmers are putting the industry’s sustainability promises to the test.

According to Chile’s largest lithium producer SQM, producing one tonne of lithium carbonate – a precursor for compounds in lithium-ion batteries – requires about 600,000 liters of water.

The freshwater needed for Chilean lithium production comes from the desert floor, and brine is pumped from the Salar Grande in the Atacama Desert and stored in ponds on the surface for evaporation to extract the lithium.

In a region with endemic water shortages, such as the Atacama Salar, any water extraction risks disrupting the hydrologic cycle, a process that is not yet fully understood.

WHAT ARE THE TRUE IMPACTS, AND IS “DISRUPTION” THAT IMPORTANT?

No, according to a study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Alaska Anchorage published in July 2022 and funded by German automaker BMW and chemical giant BASF.

According to the study, lithium mining accounts for less than 10% of the region’s freshwater use and is not associated with changes in surface water characteristics or water storage.

The mining industry accounts for only 4% of industrial water use in Chile – far less than the 73% used in agriculture and livestock, according to the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).

The US researchers argue, however, that incomplete knowledge of the region’s hydrological cycles calls for caution.

They believe Chilean authorities need to revise allowable limits on water pumping because current limits are based on outdated hydrological and climatic data.

Chilean development agency Corfo, which helps oversee lithium mining in the Salar, has tried to map areas where aquifers are being overexploited and ban new water extraction rights in some of them.

But the state has been “very reluctant to issue bans on water extraction,” the agency’s head told Reuters in 2018.

Currently, Chilean authorities allow the lithium industry a flow rate of up to 240 liters per second, SQM said.

According to an SQM-funded study published in November 2021 by Argonne National Laboratory at the University of Chicago, the industry has stayed safely within those limits.

According to that study, producing lithium carbonate from brine consumes 15.5 to 32.8 cubic meters of water per tonne over its life cycle.

By contrast, operations in the Salar consume only 2.95 to 7.30 m3/tonne of lithium, according to SQM.

However, these figures consider the consumption of freshwater pumped from the desert subsurface to compensate for the evaporation of water contained in the brine.

In short, the study shows that water consumption from lithium mining in the Atacama Desert is far below the limits set by the Chilean government.

The Chilean industry also performs far better than Australia, the world’s largest lithium producer.

Over its entire life cycle, lithium production in Australia is two to five times more water-intensive than in Chile, according to the study.

IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGHT?

However, the industry acknowledges that the situation could improve and has set higher water efficiency targets for the coming years.

By 2028, SQM aims to reduce its brine withdrawal by 50%, according to the company’s 2021 sustainability report. Balancing sustainability and growth involves “major technological challenges” and “significant risks,” the company said.

At the same time, Chilean lithium production will continue to increase, especially to meet rising demand from the US and Europe for batteries for electric cars.

For now, caution is advised, as knowledge of the region’s hydrological capacity and climate and the number of studies is still limited.

Non-governmental organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) denounce lithium companies for minimizing water use to extract lithium from brine.

A study published in 2020 by the University of Antofagasta in Chile raises concerns about the amount and rate of groundwater flow beneath the Salar to fill the space created by brine evaporation.

The researchers based their findings on a review of technical and environmental reports and inspection procedures conducted in the Atacama Salar.

“This could reduce the availability of freshwater for flora and fauna, as well as for humans,” NRDC warned. According to FIMA, a Chilean environmental non-governmental organization, other impacts are being studied, such as exposure of the Salar to chemicals used to concentrate lithium.

THE GOVERNMENT IS CATCHING UP

Meanwhile, the Chilean government is trying to halt the negative development of the lithium industry while promising tighter controls on water use.

The 1981 Water Law, passed under the dictatorship of General Pinochet, enshrined the privatization of water resources at a time when Chile’s mining sector was dominated by the copper industry, which is more water-intensive than lithium.

A water law reform was launched in 2014 but is currently stuck in Chile’s Congress.

That is now set to change after the country’s 37-year-old president, Gabriel Boric, unveiled a national lithium strategy in April that calls for a review of the exploitation of desert resources from a more environmental and democratic perspective.

This will include examining the sustainability of water use by the lithium industry and initiating a dialogue with local communities, indigenous peoples, regional governments, academia, private companies, and civil society groups.

The government also announced plans to nationalize the lithium industry, including the operations of SQM and Albemarle, the sector’s two giants.

In related news, Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco will set up a department to develop technologies to minimize the environmental impact of lithium mining, including favoring direct lithium extraction over evaporation ponds.

Boric’s goal is to unlock the country’s “enormous” potential in lithium mining and refining while minimizing the industry’s environmental impact.

“In addition to the Salar de Atacama, there are more than 60 other salt lakes in Chile,” Boric explained, announcing a “crusade” to explore and assess their extraction potential.

This would include “delineating protected areas and lakes where no work will be done,” he said.

News Chile, English news Chlile, Chilean lithium