Chile’s lithium boom promises jobs and money — but threatens a critical water source.
The Atacama Desert is a major source of lithium for EV batteries. As global demand ramps up, the local Lickanantay people are racing to protect already scarce water supplies and their way of life.
The mineral is used in everything from air-conditioning, computers, ceramics, and mood-stabilizing medication to, most recently, electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage. As countries and industries around the globe race to adopt more climate-friendly technology, demand for lithium has spiked. The Atacama Salt Flat is an epicenter of this growth. The region contains an estimated 8.3 million tons of lithium and now supplies 30 percent of global demand annually. Chile has a national plan to increase production even more.
But this boom has reshaped the fragile Atacama ecosystem as well as the life of the 18 Indigenous settlements — which are home to the Lickanantay, or the Atacameño people — that surround the salt flat.
