In 2022 the
mining industry's use of the aquifer's water was legally challenged by indigenous
Atacameño communities due to purported environmental harm. The legal case was joined by a lawsuit by
Consejo de Defensa del Estado (CDE) against
Minera Escondida,
Minera Zaldívar SpA and
Albemarle Limitada. In a December 2024 conciliation agreement the three companies were to compensate economically, socially and environmentally the indigenous
Comunidad de Peine as well as paying for damages to the
meadows of Tilopozo and the lakes of La Punta and La Brava. The groundwater-dependent meadows of Tilopozo had consistently shrunk in area and vigour since 2007. It has also been argued that groundwater extraction risked the extinction of the
caracol de Tilopozo, an endemic snail species. ==Notes==