Planning for Drought

State Drought Plans and Related Sites

Prospective drought planners may find it useful to examine existing drought plans for information and direction. Many of these drought plans are in .pdf format, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download a free copy of this software from Adobe’s site.

Related information: Directory of State Drought Planning Contacts

Alabama
Drought Management Plan (draft final, April 2004)
(from Office of Water Resources)

Arizona
Drought Preparedness Plan (2004)
(from Statewide Drought Program )
Drought Planning and Mitigation
(a research project of CLIMAS, in coordination with the Arizona Governor’s Drought Task Force)

California
California Water Plan (undergoing an update)
Preparing for California’s Next Drought

Colorado
The Colorado Drought Mitigation and Response Plan (updated 2002)
(from Colorado Division of Emergency Management)

Connecticut
Drought Preparedness and Response Plan (August, 2003)
(from State of Connecticut Drought Response)

Florida
Florida Drought Action Plan (April 2007)
(from Florida Department of Environmental Protection)

Georgia
Georgia Drought Management Plan (March 2003)

Hawaii
Drought Plan (February 2005)
(from Commission on Water Resource Management)

Idaho
Idaho Drought Plan (May 2001)
(from Idaho Department of Water Resources)

Illinois
Illinois Drought Contingency Plan (June 1983)
(from Illinois Division of Water Resources)

Indiana
Indiana Water Shortage Plan (May 2000)
(from Indiana Division of Water)

Kansas
Operations Plan (updated annually)
(from Kansas Water Office)

Kentucky
Kentucky Drought Mitigation and Response Plan (December 2008)
(from Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet)

Maryland
Drought Monitoring and Response Plan (November 2000)
(from Maryland Statewide Water Conservation Committee)

Massachusetts
Drought Management Plan (working draft, December 2001)
(from Energy and Environmental Affairs)

Minnesota
Drought Response Plan (April 2009)
(from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)

Missouri
Missouri Drought Plan (2002)
(from Missouri Department of Natural Resources)

Montana
The Montana Drought Response Plan (1995)
(from Natural Resource Information System)

Nebraska
Drought Mitigation and Response Plan (June 2000)
(from Nebraska Climate Assessment and Response Committee)

Nevada
State of Nevada Drought Plan (July 2003)
(from Nevada Division of Water Resources)

New Hampshire
Drought Management Plan (1990)
(from New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services)

New Jersey
Drought Emergency Plan (1991)
(from New Jersey Department of Environmental Services, and the Office of Emergency Management)

New Mexico
New Mexico Drought Plan (updated December 2006)
(from Governor’s Drought Task Force)

North Carolina
North Carolina Drought Assessment and Response Plan (September 2005)
(from North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council)

Ohio
Ohio Drought Incident Annex (April 2003)
(from Emergency Management Agency)

Oklahoma
Oklahoma Drought Management Plan (August 1997)
(from Oklahoma Emergency Management & Oklahoma Water Resources Board)
Weathering Drought: One State's Experience, 2008

Oregon
Drought Annex to State Emergency Operations Plan (revised 1991)
(from Oregon Emergency Management)

Rhode Island
Rhode Island Drought Management Plan (June 2002)
(from Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program)

South Carolina
South Carolina Drought Response Plan (February 2009)
(from South Carolina Emergency Management Division)

Tennessee
Tennessee Drought Management Plan (February 2009)
(from Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation)

Texas
State Drought Preparedness Plan (July 2005)
(from Drought Preparedness Council)

Utah
Utah Drought Response Plan (1993)
(from Division of Water Resources)

Virginia
Virginia Drought Assessment and Response Plan (March 2003)
(from Department of Environmental Quality)

Washington
Washington Drought Regulations for Emergency Drought Relief (1991)
Drought Contingency Plan (1992)
(from Department of Ecology)

West Virginia
Emergency Operations Plan, Annex U (2003)
(from West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management)

Wyoming
Wyoming Drought Plan (revised January 2003)
(from the Wyoming Drought Task Force)

The NDMC has additional hard copies of some plans, particularly older ones. For more information about these resources, please contact Ann Fiedler.

If you have recently completed a drought plan, please make every effort to make this valuable public document available on the web, and notify us at the NDMC so we can link to it. If you are unable to publish your drought plan on the web, please consider placing it on our website. Contact us for further information.

Page last updated August 4, 2009