Data on accumulative allocation of water rights in the Atacama Desert (Antofagasta Region, northern Chile), 1905–2018

This article presents a dataset on the accumulated water flow (L/s) granted in the Antofagasta Region for each year between 1905 and 2018. We produced the dataset starting from the official public records on water rights (Registro Público de Derechos de Aprovechamiento de Aguas, RPDAA), which are free to access and available at the National Water Agency's website (Dirección General de Aguas, DGA). The initial data described 1047 individual water rights granted in the Antofagasta Region according to 65 criteria. In order to find errors in the data, inconsistencies between the data, or/and the absence of relevant information, we revised and validated the data through different methods, including a literature review and interviews to public officials. Then, we calculated the accumulated water flow (L/s) from the annual flow granted each year (1905–2018) in the two main basins of the region: the Loa River Basin, and the Salar de Atacama Basin. In doing so, we differentiated the type of water (ground or surface water) and the use of water. Thus, the data show and compare temporal variations in the allocation of ground and surface water to different water uses in the two basins. The data are useful to researchers, decision makers and to the general population interested in the processes of water distribution within the Chilean context.