Accelerating demand for energy storage has led to increasing development of brine resources in the “Lithium Triangle”, estimated to hold about 75% of the planet’s Li reserves but persistent and fundamental questions regarding the source and transit time of groundwater have confounded efforts to manage these resources effectively. The basins containing these brines lie within the massive Altiplano-Puna Plateau, home to people whose ancestors have inhabited this land for thousands of years and fragile ecosystems that exist nowhere else on Earth. This region is very dry, bordering Earth’s driest non-polar desert and as such, groundwater is the predominant and, in many areas the only source of water. Fundamental questions about the spatiotemporal dimensions of these groundwater systems have only begun to be addressed. In much of this extreme and remote region, there is a severe lack of quality baseline understanding of the regional hydrological system and connections between surface and groundwater bodies. To address these questions, we utilize an exhaustive set (~2,500 individual analyses) of environmental tracer data (δ18O, δ2H, 3H, 87Sr/86Sr), and dissolved major and minor elements in waters collected from over a dozen field campaigns in the Salar de Atacama and Altiplano of Chile and on the Puna Plateau of Argentina. Our integrated analysis pairs these data with rigorous geochemical modelling and physical hydrological measurements from the field and remote sensing products. 3H data show much of the groundwater currently discharging into these basins is non-modern (>60 yrs. old), stable isotope and geochemical data show strong connectivity but also a marked disconnect between some recharge and discharge areas. We show that “fossil” groundwater, 100-10,000 yrs. or older is widespread and fundamental to the system, sharp disconnects exist between the modern hydrological system, the water bodies it sustains, and those sustained by paleo-recharge water. By defining these connections in spatial detail and within a regional integrated framework, we greatly improve the fundamental mechanistic understanding of this and other groundwater-sustained systems. This will greatly improve the ability of communities, governments and industry to manage of these water resources in a way that is genuinely sustainable.

Demand for lithium for batteries is growing rapidly with the global push to decarbonize energy systems. The Salar de Atacama, Chile holds ~42% of the planet’s reserves in the form of brines hosted in massive evaporite aquifers. The mining of these brines and associated freshwater use has raised concerns over the sustainability of lithium extraction, yet large uncertainties remain regarding fundamental aspects of governing hydrological processes in these environments. This incomplete understanding has led to the perpetuation of misconceptions about what constitutes sustainable or renewable water use and therefore what justifies responsible allocation. We present an integrated hydrological assessment using tritium and stable oxygen & hydrogen isotopes paired with remotely sensed and terrestrial hydroclimate data to define unique sources of water distinguished by their residence time, physical characteristics, and connectivity to modern climate. Our results describe the impacts of major drought on surface and groundwaters and demonstrate that nearly all inflow to the basin is composed of water recharged >65 years ago. Still, modern precipitation is critical to sustaining important wetlands around the salar. Recent large rain events have increased surface water and vegetation extents and terrestrial water storage while mining-related water withdrawals have continued. As we show in this basin, poor conceptualizations of these complex hydrological systems have perpetuated the misallocation of water and the misattribution of impacts. These fundamental issues apply to many similar regions globally. Our new framework for hydrological assessment in these arid basins moves beyond calculating gross inputs-outputs at a steady-state to include all compartmentalized stores that constitute “modern” budgets.