News
The Log Blog
January 8, 2018
By Gabriel Sidman, Spatial Analyst When a tree falls in the forests of Colombia, it does make a sound — a loud one — but only for a moment. The sound starts with the monotonous drone of a chainsaw, cutting the thinnest of wedges near the base of the tree, followed by a piercing crack […]
Unseen and Unrecognized: Allocating Water to Nature in River Systems
January 3, 2018
Water for nature is too often sidelined in discussions around built water infrastructure development and subsequent water allocation needs. With increasing demands for food and energy production from a growing global population, many countries look to engineered solutions to bring them water, food and energy security. When we introduce multiple demands on a natural system, […]
Saving Lives, Saving Livelihoods
December 19, 2017
When Eric Viala was a student in engineering school, heavy rains triggered a landslide that buried a campground in an Alpine valley near his home in Annecy, France. “It happened during the night and killed 23 people,” Viala said. The experience left its mark on Viala, who went on to become the director of Winrock’s […]
Water Security and the Global Water Strategy
December 13, 2017
By Eric Viala, Sustainable Water Partnership Director On November 1, in what otherwise might have been a typical congressional hearing, Republican Congressman Charles Dent looked toward his former colleague, newly installed USAID Administrator Mark Green, and posed an interesting question: “Water scarcity is known as a threat multiplier… What more will USAID do under your […]
SWP to Continue Wilson Center Series with “The Challenge of Too Much Water”
November 29, 2017
From Hurricane Harvey to Typhoon Damrey, this season’s extreme weather events have made it clear that too much water can be as deadly as too little. Flooded streets, destroyed villages, unsafe water: as these and other impacts of extreme weather increase, how can we help already vulnerable communities prepare for the next wave? And how […]
“We Are Still In”
November 16, 2017
Speaking at USAID’s Global Innovation Week in late September, Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson pledged to continue meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Winrock International maintains that pledge every day with projects that safeguard critical ecosystems and strengthen natural resource management. Winrock has also been present at the 23rd annual Conference of […]
Letter from Sumba
November 9, 2017
Illustration by Jessica Kelley; Story and Photographs By Anne Cassidy To reach Kataka School, you drive east along the coast from Waingapu, then head south into the rugged hills of Sumba, Indonesia. Flashes of silvery ocean appear outside the car windows, and, deeper inland, a herd of wild horses. As you near the school you […]
Hydraulic Despots and the Origins of Water Planning
November 8, 2017
To understand modern water management, it helps to go back thousands of years, to the Hydraulic Empires of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China and Mesoamerica. These early advanced civilizations grew out of the need to divert water for human use and to harness the power of flowing water. The more control the ruling elites took over […]
Taking a Big Picture Look at Water Security
November 7, 2017
As the world faces drought, floods, water pollution and other risks, countries often respond by building infrastructure — anything from community pumps to large-scale dams. But while these infrastructure solutions provide short-term benefits, they often fail to deliver long-term water security. The Sustainable Water Partnership (SWP) offers robust, big picture solutions to water problems — ones […]
Refuse in Use
November 6, 2017
“I had no confidence and made no economic contribution to the family,” says Sunita Karmacharya of Ilam, Nepal, about her old life. “I could never visualize myself walking out of my kitchen. I was like a frog in a well.” But then she heard about the PPP for 4Gs project, funded by the European Union/Switch Asia […]