Aconcagua Valley fruit sector joins forces to protect water resilience

One of Chile’s top fresh fruit-producing regions, the Aconcagua Valley, has long grappled with water scarcity. Now, the sector is launching a collaborative strategy in hopes of moving toward more resilient production systems.

The area grows flagship crops such as avocados, table grapes, citrus, and cherries. However, over the past 15 years, the flow in the Aconcagua River has remained roughly 50 percent below historical levels, while groundwater levels have also dropped.

Prolonged drought, rising temperatures, and increasing competition for water have heightened pressure on the basin's ecosystems. With agriculture accounting for nearly 74 percent of water demand, improving water management remains essential.

Image by Nature's Pride

In response, growers, exporters, importers, supermarkets, public institutions, and technical partners have joined forces to establish the WAVE Aconcagua Partnership.

The initiative includes Dole, Nature’s Pride, Salling Group, and Westfalia Fruit, along with the Aconcagua Network, an organization bringing together 15 growers who jointly manage around 12,355 acres of farmland, in addition to significant natural areas. 

The Dutch Government's Partners for Water program and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Chile also support the initiative.

Aconcagua efforts expand farm-level initiatives

Participants work on a pre-competitive basis, focusing on water management, regenerative agriculture, grower transition plans, and knowledge sharing.

During the partnership’s annual visit to Chile in July, participants reviewed progress and established priorities for the next stage. Growers are already testing several approaches, including nano-drip irrigation, which delivers smaller amounts of water more frequently to manage soil moisture while reducing water and energy use.

The initiative also identified basin-level coordination as an important complement to individual farm projects. The Strategic Water Resources Table for the Aconcagua Basin provides a forum for authorities and other water users to coordinate and exchange knowledge and experience.

Image by Nature's Pride

The partnership is now moving into an expanded implementation phase. Farm assessments and pilot-project results will help set priorities for individual growers, alongside increased joint monitoring and basin-level work.

For companies sourcing fruit from the Aconcagua Valley, the partnership aims to strengthen the region’s long-term resilience by sharing costs and reducing duplication among sustainability efforts.

The initiative also represents a shift toward coordinated, territorial approaches to water and climate challenges, rather than relying solely on individual farm-level sustainability projects.

*Photos by Nature's Pride.

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