Water resources management in Chile
Much of Chile is dominated by the Andes Mountain range and many high altitude glaciers. With rising temperatures, the IPCC warns of increased melting for many of these glaciers, with some of them disappearing as early as 2020–2030. The Third Assessment Report from the IPCC indicate a critical situation for glaciers in neighboring countries such as Bolivia and Peru. The IPCC report goes on to say that glaciers in Chile are drastically reducing their volume at an increasing rate and that changes in temperature and humidity are the primary cause. In an article from Science Daily in March 2008, the news agency reports that, "if the inter-tropical glaciers of Chile, Argentina, and Colombia disappear, water availability and hydropower generation will be affected." Of the thirty test glaciers monitored in the Andes by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) only Chile's Echaurren Norte glacier thickened between 2005 and 2006.
Chilean Central Valley
In northernmost Chile the central valley is made up of the Pampitas, a series of small flats dissected by deep valleys. Immediately south of the Pampitas, in Tarapacá Region and northern of Antofagasta Region, the Central Valley is known as Pampa del Tamarugal. Contrary to the Pampitas valleys descending from the Andes do not incise the plains but merge into the surface of Pampa del Tamarugal at a height of "c". 1500 m. The westernmost portion of Pampa del Tamarugal has a height of 600 m. This western part contain a series of raised areas called "pampas" and basins containing salt flats. Interconnecting basins are important corridors for communication and transport in northern Chile.