Magdalena River Basin (Colombia)
The Magdalena River Basin is Colombia’s principal watershed located in the central part of the country, going through the Andinas region. The total size of the basin area is around 273,459 km2 covering 24 % of the national territory (including 19 of 32 Colombian departments).
The catchment constitutes Colombia’s most important region due to its economic and environmental value. The watershed inhabits about 75% of Colombian population. It produces 86% of the country’s gross domestic product and 75 % of the nation’s agricultural production. Currently Magdalena River Basin provides 70% of Colombia’s hydropower, equivalent to 49 % of the country’s electricity supply (Nature Conservancy, 2017).
The watershed is extremely vulnerable to climatic events as evidenced by the floods caused by La Niña in 2010-2011 or droughts caused by intense El Niño–Southern Oscillation in 2014-2016. Extreme climate events are expected to be stronger in the future due to climate change. Accordingly, the water security was recently assigned a national priority by the government of Colombia. An integrated management of the Magdalena River Basin as country’s main waterway and economic center plays here a central role (USAID Colombia, 2017).
Local stakeholders declare technical and institutional capacity building and cross-institutional cooperation as key actions required to cope with water security challenges. Capacity development needs to look at the monitoring equipment and the process of data collection in the field and data analyses. Central database facility for hydroclimatic data and communication platform on basin scale would be adequate instruments to promote integrated water management (results of a stakeholder workshop conducted on November 7th 2019 in Bogotá).
Figure 1: Magdalena River Basin, Neiva
News
Scholarships available for MSc Program in Integrated Water Resources Management for Latin America and the Caribbean (IWRM-LAC), San José, Costa Rica
The University of Costa Rica (UCR), School of Geography, offers a new MSc Program in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM LAC) focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean. The 6th cohort will begin in August 2026 and is open to students from all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Germany.
The MSc Program is based at the University of Costa Rica (UCR) in San José. It is part of the DAAD funded project “Integrated Water Resources Management for Latin America and the Caribbean IWRM LAC”, within the framework of “Transnational Education Degree Programs Offered Abroad by German Institutions.”
The project is coordinated by TH Köln (University of Applied Sciences) through the Faculty of Spatial Development and Infrastructure Systems, formerly known as the Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT).
The MSc Program has a standard duration of four semesters. It is internationally oriented and enables students from Latin America and the Caribbean to begin their studies in San José, Costa Rica, and complete an exchange semester at TH Köln, Germany. Courses in Costa Rica are taught in Spanish and English, while instruction in Germany is conducted entirely in English.
The curriculum of the MSc Program IWRM LAC is aligned with the academic structure and content of the MSc Program “Integrated Water Resources Management” offered at TH Köln (LINK).
Contact
Alexandra Nauditt: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Justyna Sycz: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.