The construction of desalination plants is proliferating worldwide. In Chile, seawater purification technologies are framed as a tool for confronting water scarcity, stabilizing water provision and optimizing overall water availability while minimizing impacts on groundwater resources. Yet, local communities hosting desalination facilities in their territories are still confronting ongoing water-related inequities. The aim of this paper is to analyse how Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Declarations of Environmental Impact (DIAs) fit with the assessment and mitigation of socio-environmental implications of desalination. While they are intended to highlight and minimize negative impacts, and address them as part of the approval process prior to the construction of these facilities, we see instead how they are at times marshalled in ways that enable negative socio-environmental outcomes. Thorough analysis of EIAs (1994–2018) and DIAs (2010–2018) of mining companies in the Atacama region our research revealed shortcomings concerning public participation, mitigation and compensation plans, and water-energy management. This occurs, in part, through the depoliticization (or rendering technical) of desalination, in ways that obscure uneven and negative socio-environmental outcomes.

海水淡化厂的建设正在全球范围内激增。在智利，海水净化技术被视为应对缺水，稳定水供应和优化总体水供应，同时最大程度减少对地下水资源的影响的工具。然而，在其领土上设有海水淡化设施的当地社区仍面临着与水有关的不平等现象。本文的目的是分析环境影响评估（EIA）和环境影响声明（DIAs）如何与海水淡化的社会环境影响评估和缓解相适应。虽然它们旨在强调和最小化负面影响，并在建造这些设施之前将其作为批准流程的一部分加以解决，相反，我们看到它们有时是如何以负面的社会环境结果来编组的。对阿塔卡马州矿业公司的EIA（1994-2018年）和DIA（2010-2018年）进行了透彻的分析，我们的研究揭示了公众参与，缓解和补偿计划以及水能管理方面的不足。这部分是通过淡化的非政治化（或提供技术手段）而发生的，这种方式掩盖了参差不齐和负面的社会环境结果。