From the hydrological point of view, the Latin America and Caribbean Region is very complex. In this Region, practically all the types of climate that have been described in the world exist and the time and space distribution of water resources is heterogeneous. In this Region many meteorological phenomena influence the regional hydrology: cold fronts, hurricanes, “El Niño Southern Oscillation” (ENSO), causing water scarcity or excesses as  common regional hydrological characteristics. On other hand, the impact of the human activity on water is significant; in this part of the world, there is a mixture of very old and traditional techniques of water use with the intense hydraulic exploitation; as well as deforestation practices that affect seriously the hydrological regime.

Three important elements that influence the behavior of the hydrological cycle in this region are the ocean, the relief and the glaciers. The influence of the sea through the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico and the prevalence of a very mountainous relief moderates the South American and Meso American climate; while the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean influence the Caribbean climate. The hydrology of South America and Meso America is distinguished by its wide and dense network of rivers with remarkable flow regimes; South America has very big rivers, including the Amazon, the biggest river in the world. In the Caribbean, river basins are small and the short rivers flow quickly to the sea, while basins and aquifers have strong saltwater intrusion. Frequent torrential rains and flash floods characterize the hydrology of the countries within this region. Heavy rains may occur throughout the year, but the more intense are associated with the tropical regime and, specially, with tropical storms.

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN REGION FRIEND AMIGO PROJECT

The FRIEND AMIGO project was launched in 1999 covering the Meso America and Caribbean Region, but since 2004, this project has extended its activities to the whole Latin America and Caribbean Region. As part of the FRIEND community, the objective of this regional project is to develop analytical tools to understand and to characterize the hydrological cycle processes and to establish specialized databases of reference. In its conceptual platform, the FRIEND AMIGO also includes an important component of training, directed to reinforce the capacity of the national hydrological services to evaluate the water resources.

The FRIEND AMIGO LAC scientific agenda includes the following topics:

• Databases and Home page 

• Extreme hydrological processes 
• Climate change  

Moreover, the strategic work plan of this project for the next UNESCO IHP phase has been centred in three general objectives: 

• To be a strong regional project for the whole Latin America and the Caribbean Region. 
• To advance in the following topics: Databases and Home Page; Hydrological extremes; Climate change and Water quality.

• To contribute to the International Hydrological Program´s strengthening in the Latin American and the Caribbean Region and increase its global visibility through the FRIEND world agenda.