Chile was producing desalinated water before May 12, 2026. It did so without its own legal regime: projects operated under scattered rules from the Navigation Act, the Water Code, and sector-specific permits that were not designed for this activity. Law No. 21,813 ends that situation. Not gradually, but all at once. What the legislature built is a complete system: central authority, planning instrument, special enabling concession, entry into the SEIA, mandatory social contribution, and sanctions regime. Each piece fits with the others. And if your company develops, finances, or advises projects that involve water in coastal or arid areas, the regulatory map has just changed.
What changed
Before Law No. 21,813, desalinating seawater in Chile had no own legal framework. The activity existed, especially in mining in the north, but it was regulated by analogy or by rules that did not expressly contemplate it. That created uncertainty about titles, timelines, and responsibilities. The law published on May 12, 2026 creates four instruments that operate together. The first is the National Desalination Strategy. The DGA prepares and updates it. It is not an indicative plan: it is the framework within which areas are prioritized, technical standards are set, and public and private investment in water infrastructure is guided. The second is the special desalination concession. Term of 30 years, renewable under conditions established by law. The DGA grants it, oversees it, and may declare it lapsed. Without this concession, there is no lawful operation. The contrast with the previous regime is direct: before, it was enough to manage maritime works permits and, in some cases, an Environmental Qualification Resolution. Now, the concession is the central enabling title. The third is the declaration of public utility for desalination plants. This has an immediate practical effect: it opens the way to establish legal easements over private land that lies between the plant and the coast, or between the plant and distribution networks. Whoever needed to negotiate access with private owners on open terms now has a defined legal basis. The fourth is the contribution obligation. The holder must allocate up to 5% of production to human consumption or basic sanitation in areas with declared water scarcity. This is not a discretionary burden. It is a concession requirement. On the environmental side: entry into the SEIA is mandatory for all desalination projects. There is no minimum production threshold that exempts them. And citizen participation processes are required within the assessment procedure. Sanctions range from fines to cancellation of the concession. The DGA has broad powers.
What it may mean for your company
It depends on where you stand in relation to water. If you are the holder or developer of a desalination project, the law imposes a new path on you. Projects already in operation will have to adapt to the new regime within the transition periods established by the regulations. Projects in design or financing stages must incorporate the special concession as a prerequisite for any relevant contractual commitment. The mandatory contribution of up to 5% of production has implications for revenue modeling and the structure of supply contracts. If your company has long-term agreements with mining or agribusiness customers that assume full availability of production, those contracts deserve review in light of this obligation. For those in sectors that depend on water without producing it, the law opens a door. The concession framework makes private investment in desalination more predictable. That may translate into projects that were previously unviable due to a lack of legal certainty. Chronic water-scarcity areas, mainly between the Tarapacá and Coquimbo regions, are the most directly affected by the National Strategy that the DGA must prepare. Legal easements deserve special attention if you have real estate assets or infrastructure in coastal areas. The declaration of public utility allows easements to be established over private land. In practical terms, a coastal parcel that was previously outside the water system may become subject to an easement if the layout of a desalination plant requires it. That matters for due diligence in real estate transactions, for asset valuation, and for the planning of energy or infrastructure projects that share coastal corridors. Mandatory entry into the SEIA also deserves to be addressed from the standpoint of timing. Desalination projects enter an assessment system with defined timelines, but in practice it often takes longer. If your company has a project with a deadline committed to shareholders or lenders, the critical path now includes the RCA. Finally, the DGA as central authority concentrates powers that were previously dispersed. That simplifies institutional interaction, but it also concentrates risk: a dispute with the DGA over compliance with concession conditions has consequences that can go as far as cancellation.
What you can do
- Audit existing titles. If your company operates or participates in a desalination project, the first step is to map which current enabling titles are compatible with the new regime and which require adjustment. The transition is not automatic. Waiting for the DGA to notify an irregularity is more costly than anticipating it.
- Review supply and financing contracts. The mandatory contribution of up to 5% for human consumption may affect committed availability in existing contracts. Identify guaranteed volume, force majeure, and regulatory change clauses. In structured-finance projects, the change in regime may trigger review clauses with lenders.
- Incorporate the easement variable into due diligence. If you are in the process of acquiring coastal assets or infrastructure in arid areas, the declaration of public utility of desalination plants is a new verification item. Assess whether the properties of interest lie in likely routes for plants or pipelines, and how that affects valuation or purchase terms.
If your company develops projects in mining, real estate, agribusiness, power generation, or water infrastructure sectors, and you want to assess how Law No. 21,813 affects your concessions, permits, or contracts, schedule a diagnostic meeting with our team at https://calendar.app.google/f13cTubrP12uveuBA This content is informational and does not constitute legal advice for a specific case.