Mitigating Drought

 Federal and Regional Drought Mitigation Tools

Many federal and regional agencies have responsibilities to address drought-related problems. The following is a brief examination of recent drought responses and activities of some of the key players on the federal and regional levels.

Bureau of Reclamation
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
River Basin Commissions

Bureau of Reclamation
The Bureau of Reclamation is probably best known for the dams and powerplants that it built in the western United States. With the end of construction of those structures, the agency underwent a major reorganization in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is now a water management agency, with a mission to “manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public”.

Wilhite (1993) surveyed the five regional Bureau of Reclamation offices. Assessment and mitigative actions that these offices implemented in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to their survey responses, included the following:

• Provided technical assistance to state and local agencies, such as irrigation districts, regarding water management alternatives and system improvements. This resulted in improved water operations and efficiencies during drought.
• Assisted project offices in forecasting available water supplies. Project offices held monthly meetings with irrigation district managers to discuss water supplies.
• Implemented and staffed a water conservation center in early 1992 in the Great Plains region.
• Developed water transfer policies that allowed movement of project water between project contractors; participated in developing water transfers and sales proposals for the State Water Bank in California; assisted in water transfers requiring use of project facilities.
• Modified project operations to provide additional water in cases of hardship for agriculture, municipal, and wildlife purposes, and for temperature control and flows for fishery requirements.
• Modified project facilities to improve the ability to operate at low reservoir or stream levels; added or modified fish facilities at dams and pumping plants to assist in the survival of migrating fish.
• Developed state drought indices for evaluation of drought conditions.

Related Information
Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991—This legislation was enacted in response to ongoing drought in California and other western states in the early 1990s.

The Bureau of Reclamation homepage details their programs and activities..

Hard Lessons from the U.S. Dam-Building Era Former USBR Commissioner Daniel Beard describes the shift away from dam building, published in World Rivers Review, September 1996.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Wilhite (1993) surveyed the divisional offices of the Corps of Engineers concerning their responsibilities and activities during the droughts of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Responses from the individual offices included the following:

• Prepared a report assessing the impact of the 1988 drought on commercial navigation activities.
• Undertook mitigative actions regarding low river stages.
• Created saltwater intrusion mitigation plan for impacts occurring during low water stages.
• Prepared drought contingency plans for lakes and reservoirs.
• Developed policies and programs for drought management in several basins.

The Corps of Engineers was one of several federal agencies that independently reevaluated its drought-related programs. Their National Water Management During Drought Study, completed in 1994, was conducted to review the manner in which the Corps manages water during droughts.

Related Information
The Institute for Water Resources is the division of the Corps of Engineers responsible for the National Water Management During Drought Study and the National Drought Atlas. Their products include reports, newsletters, brochures, and software.

River Basin Commissions
River basin commissions (RBCs), generally created by compacts between groups of states and the federal government, oversee water and natural resource management in the various river basins. Although most RBCs historically have not dealt directly or to any great extent with drought mitigation and assessment, many do incorporate some response measures. The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin Commission, for example, conducts a yearly virtual drought exercise for the Washington, D.C., metro area; they also coordinate water supply operations for the major water utilities in the metro area and adjacent suburbs in Maryland and Virginia during drought. Among RBCs, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has taken perhaps the most active role in drought mitigation and planning. The following are some of the mitigative/response activities the DRBC has undertaken in the 40 years of its existence.

1965: Declared a state of water supply emergency and played a key role in negotiating out-of-court policy on emergency water allocations.
1973: Adopted regulations requiring metering of customer connections of new major water supply systems, leading to a water conservation campaign—one of the earliest such campaigns.
1983: The Interstate Water Management (“Good Faith”) report laid the framework for a drought operating plan, which was used during 2 water supply emergencies in the 1980s.
1981: In reformulating its long-range master plan, the DRBC makes water conservation a keystone of its program.
1986–92: The DRBC’s water conservation program is further enhanced through the addition of regulations and programs.

Related Information
Other river basin commissions with websites include the Great Lakes Commission, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Ohio River Basin Commission, and Upper Mississippi River Basin Association.