While access to drinking water has expanded worldwide, safely managed provision is still a challenge, and rural areas are specially underserved. To provide safe drinking water for these areas, water scholars and international organizations have advocated for community-based organizations or coproduction schemes. The literature often mentions that institutions and people play a key role in the provision of drinking water although the specific mechanisms through which they may affect the process of maintaining good quality water have not been reported yet. The article aims to fill this gap by providing a complex, local view on this process. In Chile, from 1960 onwards, the State has implemented cooperatives to provide for drinking water in rural and small-town areas under a coproduction scheme. In this scheme, the State provides the infrastructure, and the community is responsible for service provision. We analysed the water quality of six of these cooperatives and conducted interviews with water managers and leaders. Our research suggests that formal and informal relationships provide the links and motivation needed for the organizations continuous work. These results highlight how relevant it is to keep in mind the context and the public role of delivering safe drinking water.

Hydroclimatic and anthropogenic factors in climate change scenarios contribute to ecological changes of harmful cyanobacterial algal blooms in lakes. This study describes the variability of the bathymetric and temporal distribution of cyanobacterial communities in a deep oligotrophic lake. An increase of two to nine in the detection of CyanoHABs potential was observed, likely linked to nitrogen contributions to Lake Rupanco during the last 36 years related to changes in land use and the cultivation of salmonids. We recorded an unusual bloom of Microcystis aeruginosa in winter, 2017 at 30 m during the total mixing period of the lake, associated with the highest N/P index (16.24), the increase of total nitrogen (75 μg/L) and climatic conditions that favored the availability of nitrogen of this cyanobacterium. This study provides information on the causes of increased cyanobacteria in a deep oligotrophic lake. Long-term information on the composition of cyanobacterial communities is very helpful in determining ecological changes.

Although explosive volcanic eruptions are natural disturbances that cause significant environmental repercussions and impose multiple changes on ecosystems, post‐eruption studies of rivers and streams are not common. The most recent eruption of the Puyehue‐Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC) began on 4 June 2011 with a large explosion and the emission of a column of gas and volcanic ash (particle size <0.001–2 mm) followed by the release of silica magma, and lasted approximately until June 2012. The wind‐dispersed volcanic ash affected the area surrounding the PCCVC in southern Chile and, subsequently, most of South America, but local effects on streams and rivers in the vicinity were more drastic. We collected water, ash, and benthic macroinvertebrate samples four months after the eruption from four rivers: Two were visibly impacted (Gol‐Gol and Nilahue) in areas where volcanic ash thickness ranged between 1 and 5 cm, in the vicinity of the PCCVC fissure (8–15 km), and two adjacent rivers (Calcurrupe and Chanleufu) were located 20–40 km from the PCCVC fissure where ash thickness was <1 cm and did not present visible impacts. Results were then compared with data obtained from previous research projects. This study reports that this natural disaster induced an increase in concentrations of total suspended solids and of phosphorous in the rivers Gol‐Gol and Nilahue, as well as habitat destruction, deterioration of environmental quality, and the consequent devastation of macroinvertebrate assemblages inhabiting these rivers directly following the eruption. We conclude that volcanic eruptions can generate local extinctions of benthic macroinvertebrates in the short term, compared with rivers that were not affected by volcanic ash.

Increased pollution and degradation of water resources and their associated ecosystems has stimulated the development of tools and methodologies to characterize, estimate, predict, and reverse the environmental impact of anthropic effects on water bodies. The Secondary Water Quality Standards (NSCA) adopted in Chile have incorporated the use of bioindicators complementary to physicochemical analyses, in order to determine the ecological condition of lotic and lentic environments. Our research used the "Lake Biotic Index" (LBI) to establish the ecological condition of Lake Rupanco using benthic macroinvertebrates. The results indicated an Oligo-Eubiotic condition for this lake given the high concentration of oxygen and low organic matter content in sediments, in addition to low biogenic potential and good taxa preservation in both the autumn and spring surveys. Features of the ecological condition obtained through the application of the LBI (benthic subsystem) conform to the results of physicochemical and microalgae analyses undertaken previously in Lake Rupanco (pelagic subsystem). Based on these results, we support application of the LBI index as a complementary tool for the integrated management of lentic ecosystems.