Transfers from non-consumptive water rights moved $ 61 million in 2013
The figure is 60% higher than what the market moved a year earlier, when slightly exceeded U.S. $ 39 million. Mining companies, in the case of consumptive rights and power companies to the other titles, are the one who pay more.
Existing for granting water rights, especially in the most-exploited basins restrictions do not necessarily mean that to a private is not possible to obtain one of these permits. However, the alternative route is expensive.
In the past few years has exploded sale of water rights between private, moving only last year U.S. $ 61 million, the highest figure in history (twelve months) for this type of transaction and is 60% higher than the U.S. $ 39 million that moved this market in 2012. Ten years ago, the transactions recorded by this concept, were twelve; last year totaled 675.
All this, according to a calculation made by PULSO from information published by the Directorate General of Water, State entity responsible for granting rights to private upon request, in addition to planning water development in natural sources and investigate and measure the resource. The latest data available are for non-consumptive rights, while regarding the new record for consumptive rights are only historical information available since 2012.
The non-consumptive rights are those in which the owner agrees to restore the water at one point, allowing the same water can be consumed below other industry or activity. In addition to the aggregate amounts, has grown strongly the average value of each of these rights, which were trading at an average of about U.S. $ 460 per liter last year.
Thus, during 2013 major transactions were recorded, such as the purchase of 78 liters per second in the Maule region by AES Gener to HydroChile (company linked to businessman Carlos Cardoen), for which the generator company paid $ 3.4 million. This is just one of several packages of water rights that the power company belonging to AES Corp. purchased from Hydrochile last ayear, being these businesses of the most representative of the high values that they tend to pay for water rights.
The maximum values observed last year for this type of transactions reached about $ 20 million per liter per second. So if, analysing the latest purchases of consumptive rights, these values soar even more, especially from registered businesses in mining regions.
There, the current offer may reach U.S.$ 500 thousand per liter per second. According to experts, this is strongly determined by the drought, as some farmers, in the absence of water, have sold their belongings to mining companies, although the properties are associated, are only interested in water rights.
Who buys these rights? The former are demanded increasingly by power companies, because it is necessary to have enough it is necessary to have a sufficient flow to raise passing plants. In the case of consumptive rights, companies that are paying more are mining companies, especially in the north where farmers have agreed, increasingly, to transfer their titles to copper companies.
¿ What does the Treasury?
Although the granting of water rights is free by the state, in this type of transaction is not involved, by becoming a domain for public use by private entities. This is one of the points that seeks corrected with the next reform to the Water Code, which was announced by President Michelle Bachelet during the presidential speech.
Source: Pulso
