Irrigation in the Elqui Valley
The Puclaro Reservoir.
T
he Elqui River and Tributaries Board of Control (Junta de Vigilancia del Río Elqui y sus Afluentes, JVRE), administers 121 irrigation canals in Elqui Province in north-central Chile. This productive area produces grapes, citrus fruits, avocados, and vegetables for export around the world. The JVRE’s formal history goes back to the 1930s, but some of its shareholders, like the Bellavista Canal Association, have histories that go back to the early 19th century. In this interview, Dagoberto Bettancourt, the manager and general water distributor of the JVRE, speaks with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about the history of irrigation in the Elqui Valley and his agency’s current efforts.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRAVELHOUND.CL..
Joshua Dill: Tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Dagoberto Bettancourt: I am a software engineer and have been working in the Coquimbo region since 1998. In 2000, I had the chance to submit a work proposal to the JVRE, and as a result, it became one of my clients in my practice as an information technology consultant. Starting from that point, I ended up providing the JVRE services in a number of other areas, such as quality management, technology governance, and innovation. In those years, the organization succeeded in developing a focus and establishing its first strategic definitions and guidelines. After this process, I had the opportunity to consult for the new manager of the organization, after a few important internal changes. I submitted a proposal to stay on as assistant manager for administration and was brought on full time in that position
in 2012. Finally, the leadership at the time decided to have me stay in the position of manager and general water distributor, a role I have continued to play until the present day. As a result of all this, I have had the opportunity to get to know the JVRE first as an external management and corporate governance consultant, and then as the chief executive, answering directly to the board of directors and responsible for all operations and administration. During this period, we began to develop a project to change our working concepts and paradigms, incorporating academic research and knowledge with the aim of starting definitively to make our decisions based on data, diagnostics, and objective and concrete facts, so as to define our strategic orientation, vision, and mission within a defined, clear, measurable, and thus evaluable strategic plan. Joshua Dill: Tell us about the JVRE and its history. Dagoberto Bettancourt: The organization has a long history. The construction of the majority of the canals in the Elqui Valley goes back to pre-Columbian times, when the first inhabitants of the area began to undertake irrigation projects, which were later improved by Spanish colonists and by the small farmers who use them today to irrigate their crops. For more than 100 years, the JVRE has been working to conserve, protect, administer, and distribute the water of the Elqui River. Despite the cycles of extreme drought that this region has had to confront, our organizations’ high standard of work has allowed us to guarantee supply for urban potable water and to guarantee that each user receives the water IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM
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