Résumé
Northern Chile is characterized by desert-like climate. Five regions are recognized based ontheir geomorphological features which are grouped into four areas, these are the CoastalPlain and Range (Area I), the Central Depression (Area II), the Precordillera (Area III) and TheWestern Range (Area IV+ including the Altiplano). Streams are very restricted in theTarapacá region, distributed mostly in the Altiplano and Precordillera where they flowdownwards through narrow ravines (“quebradas”) until infiltrating when reaching theCentral Depression, which concentrates the majority of groundwater resources. The studyaims to understand how climate change affects water resources by calculating ExtremeClimate Indices (ECI). The methodology encompasses the use of precipitation andtemperature data from 75 meteorological stations from the XV, I and II regions in NorthernChile, as some neighboring stations in Bolivia and Northern Argentina in the monitoredperiod 1983 to 2012. ECI calculations were carried out using RClimdex script in the Rsoftware. Variations in ECI are stronger in Area II. In this area maximum daily temperaturetends to increase whereas the minimum decreases producing an augmentation intemperature daily oscillation. Evaporation is already very high in the Central Depression andthis temperature rise may trigger an increased rate in evaporated water during aquiferrecharge. Likewise this may also produce an increased rate in Prosopis Tamarugo (broadlypresent) transpiration causing higher aquifer discharge. Consequently the water budget inCentral Depression aquifers may be reduced. Effects in other areas can also be observed- in Area I the opposite effect to Area II occurs generating the increase of stratocumulus cloudsand augmenting fog availability something that coastal communities may take advantage of.In Precordillera the flush-flooding likelihood is bigger as evidenced by an increase in theR10mm index. Although there are 27 extreme climate indexes, only a few of them showedclear trends in the monitored period but evidencing important effects on water resources,especially in the most important aquifers in the Tarapacá region of Northern Chile.