The Water Management Program of the University of Talca and Enel Generación Chile implemented by the Research and Technology Transfer Center (CITRA by its Spanish acronym) aims to promote water use awareness among agricultural users and the adoption of techniques to address water scarcity. The project, initiated in 2015 by the Irrigation Cooperation Convention, has developed multiple lines of action to reach small and medium-sized farmers, agribusiness professionals, productive agricultural and advisory companies as well as schools and higher education communities. The implementation of these initiatives has involved institutions in the agricultural and social development sectors, organizations from the irrigation segment, municipalities, and companies, among others. One of the most important experiences  has been the creation and development of the Mariposas Irrigation Exhibition Plot installed in the San Clemente Secondary School, Entre Ríos, where various irrigation technologies have been implemented in strategic importance crops, emphasizing efficient water use and the use of unconventional renewable energies. This has become a training platform for students, farmers and has been disseminated throughout the community. Since its inception in 2015 to date, 1,457 people participated in the initiative,  of whom 54% have been women trained in technical assistance and 38% women who participated in technology transfer.

The activities carried out in the Program include the following ones:

• Installation of the irrigation exhibition plot in the town of Mariposas, San Clemente.
• Installation of five meteorological  stations, covering almost the entire agricultural area of the San Clemente sector.
• Training in irrigation techniques for agricultural users in the San Clemente and Colbún  sectors (more than 1,000 people trained between 2015 to 2020).
• Implementation of five irrigation exhibition modules.
• Installation of photovoltaic irrigation system in a hazel-growing exhibition plot.
• Technical advisory services made available to  farmers in San Clemente and Colbun.
• Publication of  San Clemente agroclimatic studies. (See study)

The initiatives considered for the 2021-2022 period are as follows:

• Promote technological change among users to increase water use efficiency through a technology transfer program and direct technical assistance for farmers,  with  assessment, advice, and monitoring of their crops.
• Promote the Water Management Program for national and local stakeholders as a joint action model  to develop skills  that will  address  water scarcity and climate change effects  in agricultural communities.
• Identify water conditions  in the basin by establishing climate change impact and water footprint of crops through an agroclimatic study.
• Establish a management module in the Mariposas Irrigation Exhibition Plot that will permit to consolidate its operation and reinforce institutional relations and transform it into a dissemination  center in irrigation technologies at a regional level.
• Undertake training programs directed at farmers, students, agribusiness  professionals, with the participation of 500 attendees during the duration of the program.