Pablo A. Garcia-Chevesich

Chile’s Monitoreo de Extracciones Efectivas (MEE) network reports pumping rate and water level at abstraction wells. We propose a daily, well-specific stress index that combines current pumping rate, reported water level and their 30-day gradients through robust standardization with the median and median absolute deviation, and per-well percentile normalization. Mann–Kendall screening classified 5689 wells; 42 wells were then selected to cover the four combinations of increasing or decreasing pumping and rising or declining water level, and 41 met the minimum record length. Episodes were defined as index values of at least 0.50 for at least five consecutive days. Wells with decreasing pumping and rising water level had the lowest mean High–Critical fraction (12.9%) and episode frequency (2.6 per well-year); wells with increasing pumping and declining water level had the highest (18.8% and 3.9), although bootstrap intervals overlapped. Regime extremes were stable under weight changes of 0.05 but sensitive to the gradient window, and a prospective replay agreed with the retrospective alert state on 89.5% of days. Predefined rules applied to eight wells implied 1.5–4.8 activations and 4.6–12.7 setpoint changes per year. The index has not been validated against operational failures and does not estimate sustainable yield; it is intended for screening and operator review.

Chile’s Monitoreo de Extracciones Efectivas (MEE) network reports pumping rate and water level at abstraction wells. We propose a daily, well-specific stress index that combines current pumping rate, reported water level and their 30-day gradients through robust standardization with the median and median absolute deviation, and per-well percentile normalization. Mann–Kendall screening classified 5689 wells; 42 wells were then selected to cover the four combinations of increasing or decreasing pumping and rising or declining water level, and 41 met the minimum record length. Episodes were defined as index values of at least 0.50 for at least five consecutive days. Wells with decreasing pumping and rising water level had the lowest mean High–Critical fraction (12.9%) and episode frequency (2.6 per well-year); wells with increasing pumping and declining water level had the highest (18.8% and 3.9), although bootstrap intervals overlapped. Regime extremes were stable under weight changes of 0.05 but sensitive to the gradient window, and a prospective replay agreed with the retrospective alert state on 89.5% of days. Predefined rules applied to eight wells implied 1.5–4.8 activations and 4.6–12.7 setpoint changes per year. The index has not been validated against operational failures and does not estimate sustainable yield; it is intended for screening and operator review.

Precipitation concentration is an important component of hydroclimatic variability, but its interpretation depends on the metric selected and the treatment of dry days. This study assesses precipitation concentration across continental Chile using daily precipitation records for 1980–2024 and four complementary metrics: the Gini index (GI), Palma index (PI), normalized Shannon entropy (H), and Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI). Daily indices were evaluated using all valid observations or wet-day samples, as appropriate, with wet-day thresholds of ≥0.1 mm and ≥1 mm. Temporal trends were assessed using the Mann–Kendall test with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction, requiring at least 30 valid annual index values per station. The indices revealed marked geographical differences, with the greatest concentration generally occurring between approximately 27° and 45° S. GI values decreased from approximately 0.7–1.0 when dry days were included to 0.4–0.6 when restricted to precipitation ≥0.1 mm, illustrating the distinction between rainfall intermittency and wet-day inequality, partly inherent in the index’s definition. GI and H exhibited an inverse association, while wet-day GI was significantly associated with PI. No significant PCI trends were detected, suggesting that daily precipitation redistribution may occur without detectable changes in monthly seasonality. Bootstrap analysis indicated lower PI instability with the ≥1 mm threshold. By integrating complementary metrics and distinguishing all-day from wet-day inequality, this study extends previous Chilean assessments and supports indicator selection for hydroclimatic monitoring, drought preparedness, water storage, agriculture, and flood and erosion management.

Groundwater management in the arid Andes is constrained less by an absence of measurements than by their inaccessibility: hydraulic parameters measured over six decades remain in unpublished theses and consultancy reports that are not machine-readable and are indexed nowhere. We present a regional groundwater database for Arequipa, southern Peru, containing 4775 georeferenced records recovered from 3675 source documents together with the national monitoring portal, spanning 1966 to 2025. Records carry depth to water, well geometry, saturated thickness, hydraulic conductivity(K), transmissivity(T), storage coefficient(S), lithology and test type, each linked to the page of the document it came from. Extraction combined optical character recognition with a large language model, followed by a three-phase human-in-the-loop protocol in which every recovered value from the principal thesis corpus was checked against its source page; that audit corrected 4.1% of records, predominantly unit misassignments. Because verifying transcription establishes fidelity but not validity, we additionally evaluate the data against evidence independent of the extraction workflow. Reported transmissivity agrees with the product of reported conductivity and saturated thickness within a factor of two for 94% of records carrying all three quantities, with a median ratio of 1.00. Transmissivities re-derived independently from primary pumping-test reports released by the national water authority are located in the database, and the extreme values in two basins reproduce figures published in the corresponding official bulletins exactly. Conductivities from saturated-zone pumping tests fall inside published material envelopes in 96% of cases. The evaluation also exposes the dominant hazard for reuse: the conductivity column mixes seven measurement supports, and pooling them without filtering biases a regional estimate downward by a factor of about 48. The dataset is therefore distributed with explicit unit and support vocabularies and with guidance to filter on test type before any aggregate statistic is computed. Data are archived on HydroShare under CC BY 4.0 (Venegas-Quiñones et al., 2026).

Water scarcity in Chile has been exacerbated by a decline in precipitation and an increase in water demand. This has prompted a search for strategies to increase water supply, whether through aquifer recharge or reservoir construction. In this study, aquifer recharge was evaluated through rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS) and direct injection into rural wells in the Ñuble Region. Three wells were selected in the Ñuble Region (Ñiquén, San Carlos, and Coihueco) using hydrogeological and operational criteria. To characterize the hydrogeology of the area, local piezometric data, geophysical surveys using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and seismoelectric tests were considered. This enabled the identification of aquifers with water levels between 2.6 and 23 m depth across the different geological units of the territory. The hydrological design was based on a frequency analysis of annual precipitation (1991–2020), which yielded design rainfall values between 442 and 694 mm. The implemented RWHS demonstrated injection capacities between 0.9 and 1.4 L·s⁻¹. The results show that rainwater harvesting combined with direct aquifer recharge represents a viable alternative for improving water security, with potential for territorial scaling through regional public policies.

Water-related ritual practices constitute a central axis through which many Andean communities articulate cosmology, social organization, and collective identity. This study examines the Fiesta del Agua (Layimama), an ancestral ritual cycle celebrated in the inter-Andean valley of Ticsani (Moquegua, southern Peru), focusing on its symbolic structure, social roles, and implications for water governance and cultural continuity. Using a qualitative, interpretive research design based on documentary analysis of ethnographic, historical, and anthropological sources, the study analyzes how ritual practices surrounding water function as mechanisms of social cohesion, moral regulation, and symbolic management of a shared natural resource. The findings show that the Fiesta del Agua operates as a cyclical system composed of four interrelated stages (preparation, ritual performance, festive redistribution, and communal closure) through which water is sacralized as an axis mundi linking cosmology, agricultural production, and social prestige. Far from being a residual tradition, the festival actively reproduces collective identity, regulates communal access to water, and integrates Andean cosmology with Catholic symbolism through dynamic forms of religious syncretism. The article argues that the ritual management of water in Ticsani represents a culturally embedded governance system whose documentation and protection are essential in contexts of increasing hydrosocial stress and cultural erosion, indicating social, ecological, and political relevance of the findings and contributing to broader debates on human–environment relations, intangible cultural heritage, and the role of ritual in sustaining communal resource management.

The global transition toward low-carbon energy and advanced technologies has intensified demands for rare earth elements (REEs), while available data remain fragmented across government and academic sources. To address this gap, this study compiles and standardizes a publicly accessible geochemical database of REE concentrations (among other variables) across Peru, motivated by the need for consolidated, evidence-based resource assessment. The dataset integrates over 30,000 records from national agencies and university repositories, classified by sample source (stream sediments, rocks and minerals, deep and surface soils, tailings, and industrial materials). This structure enhances comparability and interpretation across geological and environmental contexts. By providing a centralized, high-resolution dataset for an undercharacterized mineral province, this work offers a resource for exploration, policy development, and sustainable management amid growing global demand and strategic interest in critical minerals.

Groundwater is a critical resource in the arid Chili River sub-basin (3246 km²) in Arequipa, southern Peru, yet the aquifer systems, their recharge mechanisms, and chemical evolution remain poorly characterized. This study integrates hydrogeological mapping, major-ion hydrochemistry (31 samples from springs and wells), and stable-isotope tracing (δ¹⁸O and δ²H, 11 sources) to delineate aquifer types, groundwater flow systems, and recharge dynamics across an elevation gradient of 2000–4000 m a.s.l. Three principal aquifer groups were identified: unconsolidated porous aquifers beneath the Arequipa urban area, fracture-controlled volcanic aquifers associated with the Chachani, Misti, and Pichupichu volcanic complexes, and sedimentary fractured aquifers of the Yura Group. Piper and Stiff diagrams reveal a chemical evolution from calcium-bicarbonate waters at high elevations to sodium-chloride waters in the lowlands, while scatter-plot analysis distinguishes local, intermediate, and regional flow systems. Elevated boron concentrations linked to borate deposits on Pichupichu volcano pose a potential health risk in supply springs such as La Bedoya. Isotopic signatures confirm that wells are recharged predominantly by high-altitude rainfall (>4000 m a.s.l.), whereas springs integrate water from multiple elevations through fractured volcanic formations. These findings provide a scientific basis for recharge-zone protection, abstraction planning, and water-quality monitoring to sustain groundwater supply under increasing urbanization and climatic variability.

Gold mining has played a central role in shaping Peruvian society from pre-Inca civilizations to the present. However, existing literature offers fragmented perspectives, often focusing on isolated themes such as metallurgy, colonial mercury use, or environmental degradation, without integrating these across time and territory. This review addresses that gap by offering a place-based synthesis that combines archaeological, historical, legal, environmental, and comparative insights. Drawing on both Spanish-language sources and international literature, the paper reconstructs Peru’s gold mining trajectory through five historical phases—pre-Inca, Inca, colonial, republican, and contemporary—highlighting continuities and ruptures in governance, labor systems, and environmental impacts. The analysis reveals persistent challenges in Peru’s gold sector, including informality, mercury pollution, and weak institutional capacity. Compared to other mining economies such as Chile, Ghana, and South Africa, Peru exhibits greater fragmentation and limited integration of mining into national development strategies. The review also explores the role of gold in the global energy transition, emphasizing its relevance in clean technologies and green finance, and identifies policy gaps that hinder Peru’s alignment with sustainability goals. By bridging linguistic and disciplinary divides, this synthesis contributes to a more inclusive historiography of extractive industries and underscores the need for interdisciplinary approaches to mining governance. Ultimately, the paper calls for a reimagining of Peru’s gold sector, one that prioritizes environmental justice, social equity, and long-term resilience.

Forests play a critical role in regulating hydrological processes and reducing soil erosion and sediment load. However, climate change has increased the frequency and severity of wildfires, which can significantly impact these ecosystem services. A historical megafire burned in January of 2017 in Central Chile, affecting the Purapel in Sauzal experimental watershed (an area dominated by Pinus radiata plantations), providing a unique opportunity to study post-fire sediment load dynamics. We hypothesized that sediment load would significantly increase following the wildfire, especially in areas with exotic commercial plantations. To test this, we analyzed daily sediment load and streamflow data collected the Purapel River during the 1991–2018 period, as well as other variables. Descriptive statistics and a sediment rating curve model were used to assess temporal variations in sediment load. Contrary to expectations, results showed no significant increase in sediment concentration following the devastating 2017 wildfire event. In fact, the Mann–Kendall test revealed a significant decreasing trend in winter sediment production over the study period. These findings may be explained by a reduction in precipitation during the mega-drought of the 2010s and, importantly, a rapid and dense post-fire pine seedling regeneration. This study highlights the complex interactions between climate, vegetation, and geomorphic processes, as well as the need for further research on post-fire sediment dynamics in Mediterranean plantation forests.