Water wars Atacama Chile, grape agriculture at risk

It is assumed that the Valley of Copiapo in Chile is a picturesque grape-growing region. However, along this sector of the Atacama Desert today, only kilometers from dried grapes. Until recently, these vineyards in northern Chile were green, as they were supplied water coming from an underground tank. But in the driest desert in the world, water is a rarity, and agriculture is not the only industry that competes for her. In fact, from the window of an airplane are the marks of another typical activity of the Atacama Desert: copper mining. Huge machines drilling deep wells, stones removed and sieved soil and reddish orange. Read Article