On the Hombre Muerto salt flat, locals say pumping for the...

1. On the Hombre Muerto salt flat, locals say pumping for the 25-year-old Fenix operation has lowered the water table so much that the Trapiche River, a major source of water for their meadows, has dried up, leaving their livestock nowhere to graze. The communities there have now mobilized to prevent the same thing happening to their other main source of water, the Patos River, which they believe is threatened by new wells.
2. ‘Marconi says that this has not resulted in good corporate practice. When she analyzed 11 company environmental impact assessments for lithium extraction, she says, she found that none included full hydrological analysis or rigorous assessment of the impact of evaporation ponds on local water supplies and wetlands.’