In January 2016, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported, citing BN Americas, that Chile's Chamber of Deputies had passed a resolution asking for desalination plants to be assessed, with priority for the regions worst hit by drought. The review was to sit within President Michelle Bachelet's national drought plan of March 2015, which set aside funds for 19 large dams and wastewater reuse. For 2015, the plan foresaw drought works worth about 105 billion pesos (US$143.8 million). Until then, desalination in Chile had mainly served mining in the north.
The report showed Chile beginning to consider desalination beyond mining, as a possible element of public water supply for drought-hit regions.