The Water and Culture Institute promotes the sustainable management of our rivers, lakes, springs, and groundwater through the application of indigenous wisdom and cultural traditions that respect the rights of nature.  Our premise is that the sustainability of water ecosystems requires an ethic that recognizes our sacred responsibility to the Earth. As we face the spectre of climate change, we are reminded that our collective behavior has very real impacts on the health of the planet.  Our water ecosystems face ever inceasing stress even as their ecological resilience becomes all the more important for sustaining us through the instability of climatic swings.  Now more than ever we need to heed the teachings of Indigenous wisdom, and Western spiritual and ethical philosophies, and put Nature's needs ahead of our own short term wants. Ultimately, there is no conflict between what is good for the Earth and what is good for people.  

What We Do
Our work includes research, training, activism, and mediation to achieve water management practices that support the health of our planet.  We engage in project consulting, policy dialogues, report writing, organi-zational capacity-building, and policy advocacy.

Where We Work
With our home base in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we are involved on a long-term basis with the tribes and cultures of the Rio Grande Basin and the Colorado Plateau.  Other project locations include a regional program in Southeast Asia on the multiple values of agricultural water, and a global program of indigenous dialogues on water policy and climate change.