Good News & Bad News, page-3481

Fair enough, but the copper miners including Escondida still draw some from the Atacama basin. I was reading an article recently and copper producers draw a similar quantity of aqua (I use that term because some find it difficult to distinguish between brine and fresh water) as SQM. I cannot recall off hand the rate in litres per second but it was marginally lower than the brine drawn by the lithium producers.
Not sure how a desal plant would help the briners in the Atacama, considering they are extracting salty water (brine) for their operations. That said they still have some fresh water needs but I believe they use industrial ground water that they purify.
A desal plant would be a good option for the drinking water supplies of the significant populations that rely on the Atacama basin fresh water content.
It would seem Alb & SQM have been removing more brine than can be naturally replenished and this is having a particular impact on the Flamingo population locations as removing brine is lowering the fresh water table and affecting their habitat.
Its a complicated situation, but the responsible brine miners in Argentina in particular should not be tarred with the same brush. Geology of various salars also differs dramatically.
It is also important to remember that it is not the same as diverting fresh water sources from rivers etc.
The Atacama region is obviously severely water stressed but that is not the same for other brine producing locations.
In Argentina considering the locations have no competing water users and are high altitude desert salt lakes, the evaporated brine will fall as fresh water rain. It does not just disappear into space.
The brine contained under the salt lakes has no other use there at this point in time.
Again it is important to stress this is not a similar situation that Australia is facing in Western NSW in particular where precious fresh river water has been irresponsibly diverted affecting farmers and local populations that rely on the scarce resource and destroying downstream habitats.