Chile government hands out water in major drought

By Rodrigo Martinez

SANTA ROSA, Chile (Reuters) - Chile is suffering its worst drought in decades, and the government is handing out emergency drinking water along a quarter of the Andean nation's length as wells dry up.

Farmers in small towns in south-central Chile have lost crops and livestock in the drought blamed on the weather phenomenon La Nina.

Rainfall records show the semi-arid region got one of its lowest levels of precipitation in half a century, and some specialists say its been 80 years since the weather got so dry.

"For me this is the worst drought. We've had sort of dry years before, but there was always ground water," said 68-year-old Oscar Cerda, standing beside a dried out 20-foot (6 meter) well in Santa Rosa, a community 60 miles southwest of the capital Santiago.

A few yards away in the parched earth, shaded only by thorny vegetation, lie the remains of a cow and two calves who did not survive the drought.

To keep his remaining 20 cows alive, Cerda needs to trek half a mile to another, 164-foot (50-meter), well that still has some water.

Santa Rosa is one of 89 rural communities hit hardest by the drought and declared an agricultural emergency area by the government. Media report at least 120,000 people have been affected.

Fruit growers have not been hurt yet because they have deep wells, but there could be problems next season for this major Chilean industry and economists warn of higher energy and food prices as water levels are low at hydroelectric dams.