Above/featured: Upstream and east to Andes – 9 August 2008.
27 September has been earmarked by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as “World Tourism Day”. The following is a tweet by the United Nations for World Tourism Day in 2013.
The Elqui River in north-central Chile begins in the mountains of the lower Andes, and flows west to the Pacific along the southern edge of the Atacama desert through the towns of Vicuña and La Serena. The average annual total rainfall in La Serena is 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 inches), less than one-tenth of the total for Vancouver, Canada.
The Elqui was dammed by 1999 to control water usage by farms in the lower valley and by pisco vinyards in the upper valley; however, construction of the dam displaced people in small low-lying towns on both sides of the river. Behind the dam in the Embalse or reservoir Puclaro (photo above), the water level has declined with lower annual snowfall in the mountains above and higher usage by farms and the increasing population below. The price for water continues to rise due to competition from mines, farms, and the growing population. Numerous research visits and five years living in La Serena emphasized the contrast of the importance of water to people’s lives in the region with the dominant presence of the neighbouring Atacama.
Rio Elqui, downstream and west from the Embalse Puclaro – 9 Aug 2008.
Retaining wall – 13 Sep 2009.
Flags for the upcoming Fiestas Patrias national holiday – 13 Sep 2009.
View east into the Andes – 13 Sep 2009.
I made all photos above with a Canon EOS450D/Rebel XSi on 9 Aug 2008 and 13 Sept 2009. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-3PS.
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