Aguas Chañar, S.A., a private water firm serving the arid northern region of Chile that includes Atacama, the world’s driest desert, plans to build a seawater desalination plant to provide drinking water to the local population. If the environmentally sensitive project is approved by Chile’s water regulator, Super Intendencia de Servicios Sanitarios (SISS), the project is entitled to a subsidy from Chile’s Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Regional, a state regional development fund, of 43% of its US$300 million cost.  The subsidy will make the project economically viable.