Seasonal river-flow forecasts from glacier and snow data for irrigation boards in the Andes
Irrigation boards in Peru's Andean valleys decide each dry season how many hours of canal water every farmer gets, based on last year's flows and a few manually read river gauges. The glaciers feeding these rivers have shrunk sharply over recent decades, so dry-season flow is harder to predict each year. When a board over-allocates in June, downstream farmers lose potato and quinoa plantings by August.
Nevado Signal combines free satellite snow and glacier imagery, weather forecasts and the board's own gauge readings to forecast weekly river flow for the next 120 days. Boards get a simple allocation plan by canal and sector in Spanish and Quechua, plus an SMS alert when forecast flow drops below the plan. We are building the first version with three boards in the Cordillera Blanca.
Water user boards, regional water authorities and agribusinesses in the Andes from Colombia to Chile; Peru alone has well over a thousand water user committees.
Planned annual subscription per watershed (around US$4K–US$12K), with a paid forecast service for agribusinesses and hydropower operators downstream.
Valeria QuispeCEO and co-founder
Mateo RojasCTO and co-founderMany water forecasting tools show a single line. Nevado shows a range per week and a confidence level, which suits basins with only a few gauges. The 120-day horizon is ambitious, and the back-tests do not yet show how the error grows beyond week eight.
I liked that the first screen a board member sees is an allocation plan, not a hydrology chart. The diversion alert on the gauge screen is the kind of detail that comes from sitting in board meetings. If the 2027 pilots go well, the same approach fits much of the Andes.
This is a prototype with three design partners, not a business yet. What stands out is how well Valeria understands the boards: the allocation plan is written in hours per sector because that is how boards already work. Pricing at US$4K–US$12K per watershed will need to be tested with real budgets.
Reply from Valeria Quispe, CEO
Our first paid pilots next season are designed to test exactly that price range against board budgets.
Coming soon. Testimonials are invited by the founder and shown separately from open reviews.
Coming soon. Follow Nevado Signal to hear about product and funding updates when this launches.
