Colombian Amazon Drought and Flood Risk
Recent Developments
01October 2024: NASA reported record-low river levels in the Amazon basin, with drought affecting transportation, crops, hydroelectric power, and daily life across Colombia and other South American countries.
02July-September 2024: NASA found western Amazonas (Brazil), northern Peru, eastern Colombia, and southern Venezuela received more than 160 mm less rain than usual, with streamflow dropping more than fourfold.
03November 2023-January 2024: Colombia experienced six droughts, 323 wildfires, water scarcity in 69 municipalities, and roughly 45,000 people directly affected.
04January 2024: World Weather Attribution concluded climate change was the main driver of the exceptional Amazon drought, making meteorological drought about 10 times more likely and agricultural drought about 30 times more likely.
05January 2025: ACAPS assessed that drought impacts in the Brazilian Amazon were still significant and that recurring droughts are expected to become more frequent and severe with climate change.
Interventions
- Regional monitoring and technical coordination through Amazon basin institutions and national agencies tracking river levels, drought severity, and wildfire risk.
- Humanitarian and climate-risk planning by organizations such as OCHA and ACAPS focused on water access, transport disruption, and food-security impacts in Amazon communities.
What Works
- Climate adaptation that improves water management, transport contingency planning, and early warning for drought and wildfire risk is recommended by attribution and humanitarian assessments.
- Reducing deforestation and fossil-fuel-driven warming is identified as essential to lower the likelihood and severity of future Amazon droughts.
How to Help
- Donate to humanitarian and environmental organizations supporting Amazonian water access, wildfire response, and Indigenous communities.
- Support local Colombian and regional Amazon NGOs working on river monitoring, emergency response, and community resilience.
- Advocate for stronger climate mitigation, forest protection, and funding for Amazon adaptation through elected representatives.
Make an Impact
Donate directly to 7 verified organizations working on this crisis. Every contribution makes a difference.
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Verified Organizations
Organizations Helping(18)
In the Colombian Amazon, Conservation International implements climate adaptation programs for Indigenous communities, including early warning systems for droughts and floods, restoration of degraded areas to enhance water regulation, and capacity building for sustainable water management to address the transition from drought to flooding and hypertropical risks.
WFP addresses climate-driven crop losses by delivering emergency food and cash assistance, using early warning and seasonal forecasts for anticipatory action, and helping households and farmers become more resilient through drought preparedness and climate-smart support. In the broader Horn of Africa and nearby drought-affected areas, this approach is used to prevent acute hunger before harvest failure becomes famine.
They respond to the Colombian Amazon drought by airlifting over 40 tons of food, water purifiers, hygiene kits, and medicines to 16 isolated Indigenous communities; providing emergency funds to 100 families; and supporting Indigenous-led territorial monitoring and guardianship to ensure water access and prevent health crises.
Mongabay tackles the Colombian Amazon drought-to-flood risk problem through investigative reporting and local field coverage that documents ecological impacts, water stress, Indigenous community vulnerabilities, deforestation links, and policy responses. Their work helps surface on-the-ground evidence about how climate extremes and forest degradation interact in the Amazon, and provides decision-makers and the public with verified reporting on the causes and consequences of these events.
