Laja-Diguillin irrigation project ready in 2006

The US$200mn Laja-Diguillin irrigation project in southern Chile's Region VIII will be ready in 2006, the public works ministry reported. Works began in 1996 and include a total of 80km of primary and secondary canals, penstocks, intake channels and an 85 million cu. m dam. The project's 50km principal canal was completed last year. The project will pull water from the Laja and Diguillin rivers to irrigate some 68,000ha, benefiting some 107,000 residents in the localities of Yungay, Pemuco, El Carmen, Bulnes, Chillan Viejo, San Ignacio and Pinto, which are among Chile's main grain-growing and fruit-producing areas.