Mitigating Drought

 The Status of State Drought Plans

Because water shortfalls are initially local and regional issues, and because of the lack of a cohesive U.S. water policy, states have emerged as important innovators in devising ways to reduce long-term vulnerability to drought. During the widespread U.S. drought of 1976–77, no state had a formal drought plan, and in 1982, only three states had drought plans. But as of October 2006, thirty-seven states had drought plans (states in gray and blue on the map), two delegated planning to local authorities instead of having a single state-level plan, and two states were in the process of developing a plan. Only nine states did not have formal drought plans.

Research has shown that the frequency of drought in a state does not necessarily explain how committed a state is to drought planning. Most (but not all) of the more drought-prone western states are committed to drought planning, as are many states in the east, where drought is a less obvious feature of the climate. The occurrence of drought since 1996 has led to a rapid increase in drought planning in the southwest, south central, and southeast. The National Drought Policy Commission’s report to Congress and the president, Preparing for Drought in the 21st Century, emphasizes the need for drought planning at the state, local, federal, and tribal levels of government.¹

The Drought Planning Process
The complexity of drought impacts requires a preventive, anticipatory approach to risk reduction. How can governments reduce vulnerability to drought? The first steps involve the formulation of a drought policy with clearly stated objectives and the development of a preparedness plan that lays out a strategy to achieve these objectives. A 10-step process (reprinted from D.A. Wilhite, ed. Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues [CRC Press, 2005], pp. 93-135, by courtesy of Taylor and Francis Group, LLC) for developing national or provincial drought preparedness plans has been used by many governments, with appropriate modifications. The process (created by Dr. Donald Wilhite in 1991 and subsequently revised and updated) emphasizes strengthening existing institutions rather than developing new ones.

Drought preparedness plans promote a more preventive, risk management approach to drought management. They reduce vulnerability to drought and dependence on emergency assistance from governments and international organizations. The process of developing a plan will identify vulnerable areas, population groups, and economic and environmental sectors. The process also seeks to identify data and informational gaps and research and institutional needs. Ultimately, preparedness plans will improve coordination within and between levels of government; procedures for monitoring, assessing, and responding to water shortages; information flow to primary users; and efficiency of resource allocation. The goals of these plans are to reduce water shortage impacts, personal hardships, and conflicts between water and other natural resource users. These plans should promote self-reliance by systematically addressing issues of principal concern to the region or nation in question. To be successful, drought preparedness plans must be integrated between levels of government and with other national plans or strategies, such as those to ensure food security and combat desertification.

Drought preparedness plans contain three critical components: (1) a comprehensive early warning system; (2) risk and impact assessment procedures; and (3) mitigation and response strategies. These components complement one another and represent an integrated institutional approach that addresses both short- and long-term management and mitigation issues.

Notes
¹ The National Drought Policy Commission’s report, Preparing for Drought in the 21st Century, is available online.(A copy of this document has been retreived from the original website and is now available directly on the NDMC website.) For more on why states do or do not plan for drought, see Wilhite, D.A.; and S.L. Rhodes. 1994. State-level Drought Planning in the United States: Factors Influencing Plan Development. Water International 19(1):15–24.