Irarrazaval et al. (2026) Identifying Water Stress Hotspots in Chilean Patagonia Using Spatially Explicit Water Yield Modeling and Anthropization Proxies

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Identification

• Journal: Water
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-04-28
• Authors: Inigo Irarrazaval, Ángela Hernández-Moreno, Paulo Moreno-Meynard, Brian L. Reid, Cristián Frêne
• DOI: 10.3390/w18091041

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study evaluates relative water availability in Coyhaique Province, Chile, revealing that water stress increases toward the east due to the combined effects of climatic gradients and anthropogenic pressure.

Objective

• To identify water stress hotspots in Coyhaique Province by analyzing the relationship between water yield and human-driven water demand.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Provincial scale (Coyhaique Province, 12,712 km²).
• Temporal Scale: Seasonal (based on seasonal water yield modeling).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: InVEST Seasonal Water Yield model.
• Data sources: Spatially explicit water yield estimates and an anthropization index (used as a proxy for water demand) to construct a relative Water Stress Index.

Main Results

• Water stress is not uniformly distributed and increases significantly toward the eastern part of the province.
• The eastern region is particularly vulnerable due to a combination of drier climatic conditions and higher concentrations of population and development.
• Coarse regional assessments fail to capture the intra-regional hydrological heterogeneity of the area.

Contributions

• Challenges the prevailing perception of Chilean Patagonia as uniformly water-abundant.
• Highlights a critical mismatch between the scale of hydrological heterogeneity and the scale of current water governance frameworks.
• Advocates for the implementation of bottom-up, fine-resolution diagnostics to inform decentralized water management and planning.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Irarrazaval2026Identifying,
  author = {Irarrazaval, Inigo and Hernández-Moreno, Ángela and Moreno-Meynard, Paulo and Reid, Brian L. and Frêne, Cristián},
  title = {Identifying Water Stress Hotspots in Chilean Patagonia Using Spatially Explicit Water Yield Modeling and Anthropization Proxies},
  journal = {Water},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/w18091041},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/w18091041}
}