Planning for Drought

More Drought Planning Methodologies

Growing interest in drought planning has resulted in an increasing body of planning literature. Here are a few additional publications that planners may find helpful. The list is by no means exhaustive.

NDMC staff discuss the process of planning for drought in the following articles:

Wilhite, D.A. 1991. Drought planning: A process for state government. Water Resources Bulletin 27(1):29–38.
Wilhite, D.A.; M.J. Hayes; C. Knutson; and K.H. Smith. 2000. Planning for drought: Moving from crisis to risk management. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 36(4):697–710.
Wilhite, D.A. 2001. Moving beyond crisis management. Forum16(1):20–28. Discusses the need to adopt a more risk-based approach to drought management and the U.S. national drought policy initiative.

For copies of the Water Resources Bulletin or Journal of the American Water Resources Association articles, please contact Ann Fiedler.

How to Reduce Drought Risk The Preparedness and Mitigation working group of the Western Drought Coordination Council (WDCC), which included NDMC staff, created this guide to assessing vulnerability to drought. It is a step-by-step process for users to identify actions that can be taken to reduce potential drought-related impacts.

Managing Water for Drought (IWR Report 94-NDS-8) The National Study of Water Management During Drought was authorized by Congress and undertaken by the Corps of Engineers’ Institute for Water Resources in the aftermath of the droughts of 1988. The resulting report, Managing Water for Drought, presents a method for developing drought preparedness plans which takes advantage of federal background and expertise while maintaining the flexibility needed for local, nonfederal decision making.

Water Conservation Committee, AWWA. 1992. Drought Management Planning. American Water Works Association, Denver, Colorado. ISBN 0–89867–627–4. (This publication can be ordered from the American Water Works Association.) This book covers the creation and implementation of a drought management plan. Special emphasis is given to public information and education strategies, and case studies are provided.

Great Lakes Commission. 1990. A Guidebook to Drought Planning, Management and Water Level Changes in the Great Lakes. Great Lakes Commission, Ann Arbor, Michigan. (This publication can be ordered from the Great Lakes Commission.) This reference guide on drought and its impacts answers questions about water level changes and lists federal, state, and provincial contacts for drought assistance, water levels, and emergency response programs.

Climate Science and Drought Planning: the Arizona Experience, a paper by Katharine L. Jacobs, Gregg M. Garfin, and Barbara J. Morehouse, April, 2005.