The effects of instream sediment mining have been widely described in the literature. Although this activity has been strictly regulated in some countries, other countries still register an increasing number of sediment mining extractions, as is the case of Chile. The goal of this work is to study the current state of instream gravel mining in Chile, describing the current legislation in the country. The results showed an increasing trend in the number of approved projects, and although present in the whole country, a large proportion were located in the central and southern regions, led by Ñuble Region. The regulation of mining activities in the country is currently managed and evaluated by the municipal government where the extraction is located, after an evaluation from the Department of River Works, which has led to an over-extraction situation in some rivers. Within this context, there has been a raise in the Chilean society awareness regarding environmental issues, accompanied by the identification of the main negative impacts of sediment mining from fluvial systems. Recently, the Chilean government has been discussing a new instream sediment mining law, with the aim to standarise the regulations and incorporating a socio-environmental vision in the evaluation of these projects.

Celso Mondlhane

Wilson Barros-Parada

Luca Mao

Instream sediment mining in Chilean rivers: review and management proposal

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
GEOLOGY	4