In 2010, Congress enacted Law 26.639 on Minimum Budgets for the preservation of glaciers and periglacial environment. The law recognized these systems as strategic reserves of fresh water.
The law established a uniform protection baseline throughout the country. Additionally, it allowed provinces the possibility to expand standards, but never to reduce them. It defines a glacier as any stable perennial ice mass or in motion. It also protects the periglacial environment, key for regulating water resources.
The inventory was entrusted to the Argentine Institute of Snow Research, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences. Their task allowed for the identification of location, surface area, and characteristics of each ice body.
Currently, the law prohibits mining and hydrocarbon activities in these areas. In this way, it safeguards essential water functions for consumption and biodiversity.
The use of glacier water in Argentina
The Argentine glaciers extend along 4,000 kilometers in the Andes Mountain Range. They are present in twelve provinces and feed 39 water basins.
The inventory surveyed 560,000 km² and identified 16,968 ice bodies. Together, they cover an area of 8,484 km² under legal protection. The melting water is crucial for 1,800 localities and more than seven million people. The water supplies human consumption, agriculture, and basin recharge.
In 2010, the United Nations recognized access to drinking water as a fundamental human right. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation emphasized its direct link to life and health.
The jurisprudence also highlighted the interdependence between ice, soils, forests, and basins. Therefore, any alteration impacts the entire ecological system.
The reform project and the environmental debate
The national government is promoting an amendment to the current law. The initiative proposes to grant greater discretion to provinces regarding extractive projects.
According to critical sectors, the proposal would weaken the current protection. Moreover, it would allow for a redefinition of which areas fulfill relevant water functions.
Experts warn that excluding periglacial environments ignores their regulatory role. Subterranean ice acts as a “natural cement” that stabilizes soils and stores water.
Any anthropogenic intervention in these areas affects the basins. Consequently, it would compromise water supply and ecosystem integrity.
A debate that transcends the environmental
The project is set within a global context of extractive expansion. Strategic minerals such as lithium, copper, and cobalt attract international interest.
Argentina promotes investments through long-term incentive regimes. At the same time, socio-environmental organizations demand stronger controls. The discussion is not limited to mining. It also involves constitutional rights and international treaties.
Article 41 of the Constitution mandates environmental protection for present and future generations. Therefore, Congress faces a debate that combines development, water, and sustainability.
The future of the Argentine glaciers will define not only a productive model. It will also determine the water security of millions of people.
