President
- Alvaro Colom
Population
- 13.27 million
Currency
- Quetzal
Official Language
- Spanish
EWB-UMN in Guatemala: Agricultural Expansion
Background
The village of Agua Caliente is centered around the agricultural production of balckberries and coffee. In the village, a co-op named the Farmer's Cooperative controls the use of a series of dams and several ram pumps that water the fields adjacent to Patza, a spring running near Agua Caliente. Apermac approached our chapter for a partnership in improving their existing water distribution and dam system.The Community
Agua Caliente is a community of approximately 240 families near the city of Comalapa, site of our previous rainwater harvesting system project. The village is primarily an agricultural community growing blackberries, coffee, and some corn.In Agua Caliente, 70 families created the Farmer's Cooperative to collectively improve the health of their crops. Over the last fifteen years, they successfully installed dams and ramp pumps in an existing stream bed to enable irrigation of crops in the dry season and to create jobs for the whole community.
Our chapter works directly with the board of the Farmer's Cooperative, which includes four committees that represent each of the four dams.
Our chapter also works in close partnership with our past and current NGO, Long way Home, to help facilitate in-country communication and planning. We expect our partnership with Long Way Home to continue far into the future.
March 2012 Assessment
A March 2012 assessment was recently taken by four students and two professional mentors of EWB-USA UMN. Items of consideration on the assessment were irrigation water demand estimates, a farm survey, a dam safety assessment, and general health and community surveying.During the assessment, it was determined that at least two of the dams were in critical shape. In order to proceed with a water distribution project, the first step is to investigate, design, and implement a structural overhaul of the dam system.