Introduction to the Guadalupe Carney Project

The village of Guadalupe Carney, located on Honduras’ northeast shore near Trujillo, was formed in May 2000 via land reform movements, where landless peasants came together from all over Honduras. Streets were laid out with no thought or funds given to drainage or the many streams passing through the village. As a result, water covers roads during the rainy season and then becomes stagnant, attracting mosquitoes who possibly carry malaria and the incurable dengue fever. These diseases are debilitating, causing weeks of high fever, chills, achy bones, and headaches.  This burdens already impoverished families who have no income due to the length and severity of the illnesses.

The community of Guadalupe Carney, Honduras requires a modern drainage system to control storm water runoff in the village.  The hope is that the system will reduce the incidence of malaria and Dengue fever in the community and improve resident mobility within the village. Namely, children who must walk to school along the main highway outside of the village due to flooded village roads are in danger of joining the already-high number of vehicular homicides.

Site assessments were carried out in February of 2009 and 2010, and yielded GPS data on the various streams, roads, and drainage areas within the village.  With the help of village elders, students, a faculty member, and a professional water resources engineer took note of problem sites.  Surveying equipment was transported to the village on both trips, and a more accurate map of the main roads and stream crossings has been formed. 


EWB-UP has established a large student design team to design structures, such as culverts and fords, to maintain an adequate drainage system for Guadalupe Carney. There are a wide variety of streams, creeks, and runoff ditches throughout the village that will need to be reevaluated over time and require different flood mitigation techniques. The design of these structures may require the acquisition of further measurements and survey data. The design team has calculated and created numerous designs for crossings within Guadalupe Carney. Funding for the upcoming implementation trip has been established, but assessments must be carried out after construction to ensure the proper functioning of EWB-UP’s installations.


The implementation trip is planned for August 2011.