Abstract

The socially constructed scarcity of water in Chile has generated a displacement of agribusiness towards the south of the country, due to the water availability in places such as the & Ntilde;uble region. However, this region is not exempt from water problems, which triggers the promotion of hydraulic megaprojects, with the purpose of ensuring water for agroexport irrigation. This has generated several conflicts with the communities affected by these projects. In this article we analyze the transformations of hydro-social relations produced by the advance of agro-export in the & Ntilde;uble region. A mixed methodology was used for this purpose, which integrates the analysis of quantitative and qualitative information (from primary and secondary sources), as well as geographical and historical variables. As main results we obtained that in the Nuble region a transformation of the hydro-social relations is taking place, which are deployed in four strategies: 1) the discursive fabrication of a new hydro-social contract; 2) the re-promotion of the construction of reservoirs; 3) concentration of irrigation benefits, and finally, 4) concentration of water use rights in the basins of the region. These plans, which feed the advance of agro-exports, enter into dispute with the multi-scale resistance mobilizations that oppose the intervention of rivers and, therefore, the construction of reservoirs. Based on new water and land valuations, these processes of resistance have hindered and stopped hydraulic megaprojects in the region.