A flood early warning system built in 2015-2016 in a rural municipality in the Bolivian highlands near Lake Titicaca, combining participatory flood mapping, a municipal response protocol, training and a first evacuation drill.
Map
Escoma Community-Based Flood Early Warning System
General Information
ISIG
In 2015-2016, residents of 19 communities in Escoma, Bolivia, mapped flood-prone areas with the municipality to build a local flood early warning system.
The Andean regional programme PRASDES, run by the El Niño research centre CIIFEN, worked with the municipal risk management unit, the civil defence vice-ministry (VIDECI) and the national weather and hydrology service (SENAMHI) between November 2015 and September 2016. Four community workshops used satellite-image “talking maps” to record flooded areas, losses and traditional signs of floods and droughts, and children in one community drew a risk map of their own. The municipality then wrote a response protocol based on the national one, put up evacuation signs, trained municipal staff and community members, and received a computer for SENAMHI’s monitoring platform and two river-level gauges. A first drill evacuated 100 people from three schools. VIDECI rated its execution as good but noted gaps in first aid, coordination and equipment. No evaluation of how the system performed in a real flood was found.
Escoma is a rural municipality in Eliodoro Camacho Province, La Paz Department, in the Suches-Titicaca basin shared by Peru and Bolivia. Census figures put its population at 7,186 in 2012 and 8,837 in 2024.
Most working-age residents grow potatoes, broad beans, quinoa and other crops, and about 84% of the population is reported to have unmet basic needs. Floods in the basin are intense and, according to local estimates, occur about every seven years, usually between February and April, damaging crops, roads, bridges and homes. The programme analyzed describes Escoma as the only one of nine Bolivian municipalities in the basin that floods.
In Bolivia, risk management is regulated by Law 602. VIDECI issues risk bulletins and SENAMHI issues hydrological and meteorological alerts, while municipalities run their own risk management units and emergency operations committees.
Hazard Type
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Geographical Scope
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
Floods in the Suches-Titicaca basin are infrequent but severe, and farming households lose crops, animals and infrastructure when they occur. Escoma had not held a flood evacuation drill before this programme, and the response protocol, signage, safe sites and monitoring set-up were produced by it. Furthermore, national alerts needed to be turned into clear local actions and communication channels. Communities’ knowledge of past floods and traditional warning signs had not been recorded. Women rarely take part in local decision-making spaces, and the work had to be carried out in Aymara as well as Spanish.
Schoolchildren took part in the drill and in a mapping exercise. Women leaders and mothers were involved because most municipal roles are held by men.
Municipal governments in Bolivia are autonomous and lead local risk management through a risk management unit (UGR) and an emergency operations committee (COEM), working within national protocols set by VIDECI and SENAMHI. In Escoma the committee brings together public and private institutions, community organisations, unions, police, army, community media and health services under municipal leadership.
At the start, Escoma had a permanent risk management unit and a national protocol, but no flood-specific local protocol or drill that the sources mention. The programme added a protocol, signage, safe sites and a first drill. The drill showed gaps in first aid, coordination, equipment and training of response brigades.
The programme added evacuation signs, designated safe sites, a computer for the SENAMHI monitoring platform, two river-level gauges and a community radio agreement. The drill found missing first-aid kits, hospital supplies and stretchers, and a shortage of municipal vehicles and tents. Many communities also lack piped water and sewerage.
To draw on residents’ knowledge of where floods occur, what they damage and how people respond, and to include community proposals in the municipal protocol.
Four participatory workshops in working groups with men, women and leaders from 19 communities; talking maps on satellite images; an activity with children and mothers in Yucka; collection of proposals from community leaders; Aymara interpretation; radio announcements; training sessions; and an evacuation drill with local institutions.
Residents’ knowledge of flooded areas, losses, crop calendars and traditional flood signs was recorded on talking maps and fed into the local flood risk map. That map guided the placement of signage and the choice of safe sites. Community leaders’ proposals for response and prevention, such as channels, river dredging, retaining walls and irrigation, were collected to inform the protocol. The municipal risk unit wrote the protocol with VIDECI and SENAMHI, and alert responsibilities follow the national protocol.
Municipal technicians, committee members and authorities were trained in risk management and Law 602. The risk management unit’s functions and manuals were reviewed with technical support. Municipal technicians were trained to use the SENAMHI platform, and community members were trained to read and maintain the river gauges. The drill gave institutions and schools practice with the protocol.
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
The process starts from residents’ own knowledge. Talking maps on satellite images captured past floods and traditional signs, such as bird behaviour, plant flowering and fog, that communities use to anticipate floods and droughts. Work was done with Aymara interpretation and around the local agricultural calendar. The municipal protocol was built on the national one, so it fits existing responsibilities. Community-read river gauges sit alongside SENAMHI’s online platform, and a community radio station broadcasts in Aymara.
The process used Aymara interpretation, and the local radio station broadcasts in Aymara.
CIIFEN, through the PRASDES programme, with the Escoma municipal government (risk management unit), VIDECI and SENAMHI Bolivia. According to the Sendai Framework commitment record, the programme was funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
Transferable implementers: a municipal risk unit or civil protection office, with technical support from a national meteorological or hydrological service and a facilitating organisation experienced in participatory methods.
CIIFEN is a regional centre on El Niño and climate risk and ran PRASDES across Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The same approach was applied at four sites in three countries.
Escoma municipal government and its risk management unit; the municipal emergency operations committee; VIDECI; SENAMHI Bolivia; CIIFEN/PRASDES; residents and leaders of 19 communities, including women leaders; local radio station Sariri; the Aymara hospital of Escoma; the navy unit BIM IV Alianza; municipal police; and three schools (UE Querajata, Instituto Tupac Katari and UE 29 de Septiembre).
- Introduction: programme staff met authorities, SENAMHI and municipal technicians, community representatives and residents, explaining the work in plain language with Aymara interpreters.
- Site and vulnerability analysis: Escoma was selected in advance. Biophysical and socio-economic vulnerability was analysed for the whole basin, but total vulnerability was not.
- Stakeholder mapping: national and local actors were identified and given roles.
- Local flood risk map: four community workshops used talking maps to mark flooded areas, losses, seasons, crops, access to information and traditional knowledge. A separate activity with children and mothers in Yucka produced a children’s risk map.
- Response actions: the municipal unit wrote the response protocol with VIDECI and SENAMHI and community input; training was given on risk management; signage was installed; and a drill was held with three schools, the hospital, police and the army.
- Follow-up: VIDECI, SENAMHI, the municipality and the navy reviewed the drill, and the authorities committed to include the recommended changes. A computer for SENAMHI’s platform and two river gauges were installed, and a letter of interest and a radio information-sharing agreement were signed.
The programme provided facilitation, training, a computer, two gauges, signage and printed material. National agencies contributed technical staff time. Municipal staff, a hospital team of 17 with two ambulances, one police officer and 41 military personnel, schools and community members contributed in kind.
The programme took place from November 2015 to September 2016, in five defined steps from introduction to drill. A drill review took place, but the sources describe no ongoing monitoring after the programme ended.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
- Respect for local culture, including an Aymara-speaking technician and the indigenous calendar, enabled active participation at every step.
- Deliberately creating space for women leaders brought in views that are usually missing.
- SENAMHI’s technical support was essential and also built working links.
- A municipal risk strategy and a permanent risk unit in the municipal structure are needed for a system to function.
- Alert thresholds need regular review as the river changes.
- The drill showed that first-aid kits, supplies, vehicles and training of response brigades need to be planned before a real event.
Language and culture were addressed with an Aymara-speaking technician and by scheduling around the indigenous agricultural calendar. Because most municipal roles are held by men, the team worked deliberately with women leaders, although women’s participation was achieved only in some areas. One school chosen for the drill had to withdraw because of communal farm work, so the exercise went ahead with three other schools. As the first drill in Escoma, it was kept to a limited scope. Gaps still found in the drill included a lack of first-aid kits, hospital supplies, vehicles and tents.
The risks documented are specific and matched to responses: language barriers (interpreters), unequal participation (women leaders, an inclusive children’s activity), clashes with farm work (rescheduling, replacing the school), and weak coordination in the first drill (changes committed by the authorities). SENAMHI is advised to adjust alert thresholds periodically because the river’s behaviour changes with sediment and new bridges.
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
The system relies on existing institutions: the municipal risk management unit, the emergency operations committee, the national protocol, SENAMHI’s platform and the community radio station. Community members trained to read the gauges provide local monitoring. A letter of interest and a radio information-sharing agreement formalise cooperation. No public information was found on budget lines, later drills or updates. The programme period ended in December 2016, so it can be inferred that continuation depends on municipal staff time and national agency support.
The five-step approach was applied at four sites in three countries (Escoma in Bolivia; Querecotillo and Salitral in Peru; Zapotillo in Ecuador). The steps, talking maps, stakeholder mapping, protocol drafting and drill can be reused. What must be localised is the language and interpretation, the calendar, the choice of safe sites, the protocol’s link to national rules, and the alert thresholds for each river.
A computer with SENAMHI’s online platform, two river-level gauges read by community members, community radio, mobile phones and satellite imagery for mapping. The sources do not say that the gauges feed data to the platform automatically.
No public information on costs was found in the sources reviewed. Based on the available information, it can be inferred that costs included four community workshops, satellite imagery, signage, printed educational material, interpretation, training sessions, drill organisation, a computer and two gauges.
No public information on operating costs was found. It can be inferred that ongoing costs include the time of the municipal technician, computer and internet, gauge reading and maintenance, radio airtime, repeat drills, replenishing first-aid supplies, and SENAMHI’s periodic threshold reviews. The sources report external programme funding that ended in 2016 and no local budget commitment.
- The system depends on institutions that continue after the programme: the municipal risk management unit, the national protocol and SENAMHI’s platform.
- The letter of interest and the radio information-sharing agreement give the cooperation a formal footing.
- Community members trained to read the gauges support local monitoring, and it can be inferred that they need refresher training and maintenance support to continue.