The global transition to low-carbon technologies has accelerated the extraction of lithium. Its associated implications on local socio-environmental systems, however, are often overlooked. This study develops an agent-based model, applied to the lithium extraction in Salar de Atacama, Chile to understand (1) how mining's brine pumping rates affect groundwater movements and (2) how changes in water resources affect social-stress dynamics under multiple projections of mining activities. The results show the groundwater declines significantly in the mining area with impacts spreading outwards to nearby communities. Communities near mining operations are most vulnerable to mining expansions, while more distant residents experience long-lasting impacts due to lower compensation and delayed groundwater recovery. We found the role of groundwater uncertainties in causing the mismatched evolution of environmental and social dynamics, thereby highlighting some governance challenges stemming from resource uncertainties. Our analysis also points to a possible striking increase in social stress resulting from the recent social overburden in the area, underlining the need of building community resilience. We discuss how improved resource governance, pathways to build community resilience, and alternative mining techniques to decouple water use can help industrial and regional decision-makers better manage the world's largest lithium production sites towards a sustainable future.

全球向低碳技术的过渡加速了锂的提取。然而，它对当地社会环境系统的相关影响往往被忽视。本研究开发了一个基于代理的模型，应用于智利阿塔卡马盐沼的锂提取，以了解 (1) 采矿的盐水抽水率如何影响地下水运动以及 (2) 水资源的变化如何影响多重预测下的社会压力动态的采矿活动。结果表明，矿区地下水显着下降，影响向外扩散到附近社区。采矿作业附近的社区最容易受到采矿扩张的影响，而较远的居民由于补偿较低和地下水恢复延迟而受到长期影响。我们发现地下水不确定性在导致环境和社会动态不匹配演变中的作用，从而突出了资源不确定性带来的一些治理挑战。我们的分析还指出，由于该地区最近的社会负担过重，社会压力可能会显着增加，这强调了建立社区复原力的必要性。我们讨论了改进资源治理、建立社区复原力的途径以及与水资源脱钩的替代采矿技术如何帮助工业和区域决策者更好地管理世界上最大的锂生产基地，以实现可持续的未来。我们的分析还指出，由于该地区最近的社会负担过重，社会压力可能会显着增加，这强调了建立社区复原力的必要性。我们讨论了改进资源治理、建立社区复原力的途径以及与水资源脱钩的替代采矿技术如何帮助工业和区域决策者更好地管理世界上最大的锂生产基地，以实现可持续的未来。我们的分析还指出，由于该地区最近的社会负担过重，社会压力可能会显着增加，这强调了建立社区复原力的必要性。我们讨论了改进资源治理、建立社区复原力的途径以及与水资源脱钩的替代采矿技术如何帮助工业和区域决策者更好地管理世界上最大的锂生产基地，以实现可持续的未来。