Impacts and interaction in irrigation development in central Chile

The purpose of this study was to apply an innovative model of expansion to irrigation management and development in fruit exporting regions in central Chile. The model showed how external influences (globalization, climate, mountains) and complex adaptive systems (water conflicts, institutions and markets) influenced the evolution of irrigation development (the extension and emergence of novel properties) towards constructive (planned irrigation development) and destructive (climate change) futures. The model was simple, geometrical, consistent and future oriented. It was an innovative representation of expanding irrigation development and valuable to entrepreneurial water developers because it described the macro-scale processes involved in irrigation development.