6 ways modern communities are channelling traditional water wisdom for climate resilience
Indigenous and traditional knowledge systems have long provided sophisticated, locally adapted solutions for monitoring and managing water. In the face of increasing climate extremes - droughts, floods, and erratic rainfall - these ancestral approaches offer powerful insights for building resilience today.
Across the world, communities have engineered water systems that are low-tech, sustainable, and deeply integrated with local ecosystems. These examples bring together six instances of such Indigenous water wisdom - highlighting how ancient methods are being revived and reimagined as practical tools to confront modern climate and disaster risks.
1. Sri Lanka's revived ancient cascade system combat drought and flood risk
Communities in Sri Lanka's Dry Zone are increasingly vulnerable to prolonged droughts and flash floods - natural hazards intensified by climate change. These extremes threaten water security, agriculture, and rural livelihoods. In response, the Climate Resilient Integrated Water Management Project (CRIWMP), supported by the Green Climate Fund and UNDP, is restoring an indigenous solution: the ancient cascade irrigation system.
This network of small, interlinked reservoirs regulates water during both dry spells and heavy rains, enhancing water retention, minimizing flood damage, and ensuring year-round supply for drinking and farming. Rooted in traditional knowledge and powered by local participation, this nature-based system is helping communities build resilience from the ground up.
2. Mexico's ancient floating garden 'chinampas' offer drought-proof farming
As Mexico City faces historic water shortages driven by prolonged drought and reduced rainfall, an ancient Aztec innovation is resurfacing as a model for resilience. The chinampas - ingenious floating gardens built from lakebed soil, reeds, and willow trees - form a highly efficient, water-conserving agricultural system.
These raised plots naturally absorb and retain water from surrounding canals, support multiple harvests each year, and minimize the need for irrigation. With urban water stress on the rise globally, this Indigenous practice offers a time-tested solution for drought mitigation that could inspire water-smart strategies in other climate-vulnerable cities.
3. Ancient underground waterways beat drought in arid regions
Across Africa's drylands, dwindling rainfall and rising temperatures are deepening drought risks and threatening water security. But an ancient method known as the qanat system - also called foggara in North Africa, falaj in Oman, and qarez in Central Asia - is showing new promise.
By tapping underground aquifers and channelling water through gently sloping tunnels, qanats transport groundwater over long distances using only gravity. This low-tech, sustainable system enables communities to irrigate crops and access drinking water in even the harshest conditions - offering a time-tested solution for climate resilience in drought-prone landscapes.
4. Peru's ancient amunas and Moche canal water systems combat drought and flood
Coastal Peru, one of the driest regions on Earth, has long struggled with water scarcity and destructive El Niño floods - challenges now intensified by climate change and industrial agriculture. Yet ancient Andean civilizations like the Moche and Chimu engineered sophisticated canal systems that not only irrigated desert farmland but also diverted floodwaters during extreme events.
In the highlands, the community of Huamantanga still uses amunas - a pre-Incan water infiltration technique that delays wet-season runoff by an average of 45 days. Researchers estimate that if these systems are upscaled by the government to provide for the current population size, they could reroute 99 million cubic metres of water annually - boosting dry-season supply by up to 33% and extending the growing season for thousands of farmers. These Indigenous innovations offer a vital blueprint for balancing water access in the face of intensifying droughts and floods.
5. Yemen's Tawila Cisterns offer a 3,500-year-old defence against climate extremes
Yemen is grappling with two extremes of climate change: worsening droughts that dry up drinking water supplies and increasingly destructive flash floods that threaten lives and infrastructure - especially in coastal cities like Aden. But a 3,500-year-old solution may hold the key.
The Tawila Cisterns, a network of volcanic-ash channels and tanks built as early as the 15th century B.C., were designed to divert rainwater through a sequence of locks - storing up to 90 million litres annually and protecting low-lying areas from flood damage. Once a reliable source of clean water for thousands, these cisterns are now being reconsidered as a vital, low-tech safeguard for one of the world's most water-stressed nations.
6. Assam's 'dong bandh' canals sustain farming despite increasing droughts
Farmers across India face increasingly unpredictable rains and severe droughts that threaten their crops and livelihoods. Yet in Baksa district, near the border between Assam and Bhutan, a century-old indigenous irrigation system known as dong bandh continues to sustain harvests even when water is scarce. This community-managed network of downhill canals channels water from rivers and streams to fields and villages without relying on pumps or pipes.
By harnessing natural water flow and local stewardship, the dong bandh exemplifies how traditional knowledge offers practical, climate-resilient solutions for water management in drought-prone regions.
Looking back to move forward
These case studies show that Indigenous water management systems are far more than historical curiosities - they are living technologies with the power to address today's most pressing hazards.
Rooted in deep ecological understanding and community cooperation, these practices offer scalable, sustainable alternatives for managing water in the face of floods, droughts, and environmental change.
As governments, scientists, and communities search for solutions, embracing and investing in Indigenous knowledge isn't just respectful - it's essential for a water-secure, climate-resilient future.
- WMO Member:
- Mexico