Water 2014, 6, 2590-2613; doi:10.3390/w6092590 OPEN ACCESS water ISSN 2073-4441 www.mdpi.com/journal/water Article Integrated Water Resource Management and Energy Requirements for Water Supply in the Copiapó River Basin, Chile Francisco Suárez 1,2, José F. Muñoz 1, Bonifacio Fernández 1, Jean-Marc Dorsaz 1, Christian K. Hunter 1,2,3, Christos A. Karavitis 4 and Jorge Gironás 1,2,5,* 1 Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago 7820436, Chile; E-Mails:
[email protected] (F.S.);
[email protected] (J.F.M.);
[email protected] (B.F.);
[email protected] (J.-M.D.);
[email protected] (C.K.H.) 2 Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable CONICYT/FONDAP/15110020, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago 7820436, Chile 3 Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN 46556, USA 4 Department of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athens 118 55, Greece; E-Mail:
[email protected] 5 Centro Interdisciplinario de Cambio Global, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago 7820436, Chile * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +56-2-2354-4227; Fax: +56-2-2354-5876. Received: 26 May 2014; in revised form: 30 July 2014 / Accepted: 11 August 2014 / Published: 27 August 2014 Abstract: Population and industry growth in dry climates are fully tied to significant increase in water and energy demands. Because water affects many economic, social and environmental aspects, an interdisciplinary approach is needed to solve current and future water scarcity problems, and to minimize energy requirements in water production.