Summary: In the Chilean ideological and legal context, geared towards water efficiency, the existence of urban orchards in the north of the country is surprising. This article analyses the role of water user organisations in building water scarcity and a secure hydrolegal territorialisation of Vicuña orchards. Located in a semi-arid valley in Chile, the case is representative of water management by irrigation organisations through a network of canals. Legal geography analyses, using qualitative methodologies (ethnography, interviews, observations, archives), relationships to law and space, and tensions in the directories of three water user organisations. Power relations between water users’ organisations lead to the definition of three geolegal actions (to eliminate, increase the quota, lack of regularisation) which lead to water scarcity in Vicuña orchards. To tackle it, the leaders of the ‘Huertos de Vicuña’ water community instrumentalise the right to increase its control over irrigation practices, leading to a securitarian territorialisation of water.