The Mulato River sub-basin, located in the department of Putumayo (Colombia), is part of a strategic region between the Andes and the Amazon. This territory is rich in water resources and biodiversity, and it is home to Indigenous, rural, and urban communities that depend directly on its natural resources.
However, this sub-basin faces serious environmental and social threats. Accelerated deforestation, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, extensive cattle ranching, and climate change have degraded local ecosystems, disrupted water cycles, and increased vulnerability to extreme events such as floods and landslides.
A tragic example of this reality was the Mocoa landslide in 2017, when heavy rains caused several rivers, including the Mulato, to overflow, resulting in a devastating toll of hundreds of victims and thousands of people affected. This event highlighted the urgent need to strengthen integrated water management and early warning systems in the region.

In this context, the HIDROANDES project emerges as an innovative and participatory response, focused on community-based water monitoring and the empowerment of local actors—especially women and Indigenous peoples—for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
Este enfoque combina tecnología, saberes tradicionales y formación comunitaria para promover un modelo replicable de gestión sostenible en otras cuencas andino amazónicas.