Two legal actions against the Zapallar Reservoir project – whose owner is the Directorate of Hydraulic Works of the MOP – will be presented, today, Monday, by the Diguillín Union Committee and natural persons. These are claims for lack of due consideration of citizen observations and requesting the invalidation of the Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA).
According to the NGO Environmental Defense, which represents the plaintiffs, the project, which was rated favorably by the Environmental Evaluation Commission (Coeva) of Ñuble, “faces accusations of inadequate environmental evaluation and threats to areas of high biodiversity and cultural heritage.”
Ricardo Frez, Environmental Defense lawyer, pointed out that “we are aware that Ñuble is a region with an agricultural vocation, where the need for irrigation is a latent problem, but this does not empower us to seek solutions at any cost, much less by failing to comply. environmental regulations, above all, with projects of this nature, which generate such serious and irreversible impacts for the territories and ecosystems.”
The plaintiffs argue that the project suffers from illegalities in both formal and substantive aspects, pointing out deficiencies in the citizen participation processes and in the evaluation of environmental impacts. They highlight that Coeva did not adequately consider the effects of the project on biodiversity, especially in protected areas such as the Biosphere Reserve, which is home to vital ecosystems.
The NGO stated that the installation of the project would imply irreversible effects on various flora, fauna and fungi in the protection category. Regarding the flora and vegetation, 400 individuals of guindo santo, 369 individuals of naranjillo and more than 7,700 individuals of mountain cypress will be cut. Regarding aquatic fauna, the free movement of endemic fish and those in the protection category such as the carmelita, the catfish and the tollo will be interrupted.
In addition, there is a warning about the forced displacement of riverside families and the direct impact of 24 archaeological elements.
Valentina Ibarra, spokesperson for the Somos Diguillín group, commented that “we still do not know the real impact of this project because the environmental impact study of the ancillary and complementary works, which is the entire channeling network in El Carmen and San Ignacio. People here are quite worried about not knowing where the canals are going to pass, what areas are going to be expropriated, how much land is going to be destroyed, how many canals are going to be intervened.”
For her part, Patricia Troncoso, from the Diguillín Union Committee, pointed out that “the citizen participation process was very deficient because the SEA carried out it online during the pandemic, and here the internet connection is terrible, we have older adults and many do not know “they manage with technology”
#present #legal #actions #Zapallar #Reservoir #project #Discusión