Water administrations must establish a minimum flow in rivers to ensure the survival of aquatic ecosystems and maintain the ecosystemic functions they provide. This minimum flow is known as “environmental flow.” _x000D_
Water resources management in Chile contemplates the establishment of an environmental flow for the Maipo river basin, which is one of the main sources of water supply for the city of Santiago, and for this purpose the methodologies and definitions of environmental flow used in Spain (Ebro River) and Colombia (Magdalena River) were used as a reference. However, there are doubts about the calculation methodology applied and the resulting flows obtained, which open the door to the study hypotheses: why the current definition of environmental flows is not based on the natural fluvial regime of the river, or what are the functionalities and uses of environmental flows for the conservation and preservation of the environment? _x000D_
These questions address the complexity in the definition of environmental flow and its management since, being a tool of vital importance for the conservation and preservation of the environment, it also sustains healthy estuarine ecosystems and freshwater, which are essential for both ecological and human well-being. The objective of this work is to analyze the definition of environmental flow for the Maipo river basin with the intention of identifying gaps in its calculation and definition and proposing improvements. For this purpose, we propose the use of geostatistical methods of conditional simulation to define a flow in different stretches of the basin, which will serve as input for the estimation and proposal of an environmental flow in the Maipo river basin, and as a reference for a national hydrological plan.

Miranda Fierro, Jaime; Farguell, Joaquim
Doctorado en Geografía Planificación territorial y Gestión Ambiental, Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Barcelona / Facultad de Ingeniería, Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad San Sebastian, Chile ; Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Barcelona / Instituto de Investigación del Agua, Universidad de Barcelona
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