The pioneering Glacier Law, approved in 2010, prohibited all mining and exploration activities in glacier regions by protecting them as water reserves.
The reform shifts the responsibility of defining protected glacier areas from the Argentine Institute for Snow, Ice and Environmental Sciences (Ianigla) to the provincial governments.
President Javier Milei, who backed the reform, said the change 'empower[s] the provinces to utilise their resources' and allows mining activities 'where there was nothing to protect'.
Argentina's Senate had already approved the bill in February 2026, so approval by the lower house was the last major hurdle left.
Opponents of the reform argued that it would put a fundamental resource - water - at risk. 'Without water, we can't even think about a growth and development project,' Congresswoman Natalia de la Sota said.
Following the reform, glaciers and periglacial environments will be protected by the national Ianigla inventory until provincial leaders prove they do not serve as 'strategic' water reserves.
There are 16,968 glaciers in Argentina, providing water to 36 river basins across 12 provinces, home to seven million people. Water from melted glaciers helps to reduce the impact of droughts, especially in semi-arid provinces like Mendoza, which are becoming more common due to climate change.
Governors from the mineral-rich provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Mendoza, and San Juan had supported the bill, stating that the 2010 Glacier law hindered the sustainable economic development goals of the provinces.
