Futaleufú Riverkeeper works as a watchdog organization for the Futaleufú watershed: tracking, recording, and acting on development and changes to the environment. The lack of a strong governmental regulatory presence makes our job even more important, as citizens and independent organizations like Riverkeeper must take responsibility for holding developers accountable. By keeping a constant pulse on ecosystem health and environmental legislation, Riverkeeper arms itself to legally defend the Futaleufú watershed.
We focus on 3 types of monitoring
Scientific Monitoring
We collect data on water quality and ecosystem health, which provides the groundwork for being able to report, control, recover, restore, protect and conserve rivers and bodies of water. These data allow us to establish bases of ecosystem health, create an empirical registry of the effects of development and climate change, and use these data in litigation.
In 2020, Riverkeeper started the region’s first community-based water quality monitoring program. Every month, 17 volunteer monitors take water samples and record water quality data at 9 total sites along the Espolon River, the Futaleufú River, and Laguna Espejo. This data is uploaded to a public online platform.
Legal Monitoring
The current Chilean legal structure provides very little environmental protection, generally favoring development and the rights of private actors. Chile is the only country in the world with fully privatized water rights. Thus, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of existing legislation that can be used to defend the environment, and to stay alert to changes in legislation that may pave the way for stronger protections.
Environmental Complaints
Futakeeper receives periodic citizen environmental complaints, which are generally associated with pollution, gravel extraction, water rights, or threats from extractive industries. After confirming the legitimacy of the complaint with site visits and photos, Riverkeeper then directs the complaint to the corresponding governmental institution (for example, the Superintendency of Environment (SMA) or the National Forest Service (CONAF)). In cases where environmental harm is occurring but not breaking any restrictions, Riverkeeper explores ways to find non-traditional, community-based solutions.