In the Experimental Substations of Pueblo Bello (Cesar) and El Tambo (Cauca), coffee zones located in the North and South of Colombia, the effect of trees as coffee shades and the effect of dead plant coverage on water availability in the soil were evaluated during three years. The trees were established at a distance of 9.0 m x 9.0 m (123 trees/ha) and the coffee plants at 1.5 m x 1.5 m (4,500 plants/ha); Crotalaria juncea was used as dead plant coverage. The volumetric humidity comparisons registered among treatments were carried out in each locality. From the variance analyses and the comparison tests (Tukey 5%) of the information registered in the first 20 cm of depth in the soil, it was posible to infer that, when comparing water availability in the soil for each of the treatments in all the evaluations period, the hydric deficiencies in Pueblo Bello happened when coffee plants are established under Erythrina fusca shade and the soil is covered with dead plants. In El Tambo there were not problems due to the lack of water in the soil, whether the coffee is grown in free sun exposure or under shades and whether or not dead plant coverage is used. Palabras clave: Coffea arabica, Inga spp., Erythrina spp., Crotalaria spp., shade, soil humidity.