Planning for Drought: Moving from Crisis to Risk Management

JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 2000

ABSTRACT: Severe drought is a recurring problem for the United States, as illustrated by widespread economic, social, and environmental impacts. Recent drought episodes and the widespread drought conditions in 1996, 1998, and 1999 emphasized this vulnerability and the need for a more proactive, risk management approach to drought management that would place greater emphasis on preparedness planning and mitigation actions. Drought planning has become a principal tool of states and other levels of government to improve their response to droughts. For example, since 1982, the number of states with drought plans has increased from 3 to 29. Many local governments have also adopted drought or water shortage plans. Unfortunately, most state drought plans were established during the 1980s and early 1990s and emphasize emergency response or crisis management rather than risk management. This paper presents a substantive revision of a 10‐step drought planning process that has been applied wid...

Natural Hazards, 2013

Recent severe drought events across the nation have raised our concerns over society's changing and increasing vulnerability to droughts. All levels of governments have taken actions to plan for the slow-onset, long-lasting and spatially extensive drought hazard. The progress of drought planning at the state level is especially impressive over the past decade due to the dramatic growth of drought plans. To date, almost all states have drought plans, but previous studies indicated these plans are still heavily relying on the reactive crisis management approach to deal with ongoing droughts rather than the proactive risk management approach toward building drought resilience. No study so far has empirically examined how well all of these state plans are and to what extent these plans incorporated risk management theory and practices on a national basis. Thus, this study develops a drought risk coding protocol to systematically assess the 44 latest state drought plans' quality in risk management. An inventory of the state drought plans is also established to demonstrate their quality, content and characteristics. The results indicate that state drought plans typically address emergency responses well, while they are generally weak in establishing strong goals, mitigation and adaptation, public involvement, plan updates and implementation. Lastly, recommendations are provided for drought officials to develop, enhance or revise drought plans toward a risk management approach.

Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1991

Drought has been a prevalent feature of the American landscape during the latter part of the 1980s, producing serious socioeconomic and environmental consequences. These recent experiences with drought have renewed concern about the inadequacy of federal and state contingency planning efforts and the lack of coordination for assessment and response efforts between these levels of government. This paper presents the results of research aimed at facilitating the preparation of drought contingency plans by state government in conjunction with a state's overall water management planning activity. The ten-step drought plan development process reported is intended to improve mitigation efforts through more timely, effective, and efficient assessment and response activities. Officials in appropriate state agencies should examine the proposed framework and alter it to best address drought-related concerns, adding or deleting elements as necessary.

Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, 2000

Since 1986, the United States has experienced numerous droughts causing billions of dollars in losses in many economic, social, and environmental sectors. To lessen the risks associated with drought, governments at all levels have taken greater interest in drought planning, with the greatest progress coming at the state level. However, state plans, and recent actions taken by states in response to drought, have been largely reactive, emphasizing short-term actions over long-term planning. The National Drought Mitigation Center's program is directed toward helping governments and others lessen societal vulnerability to drought. The NDMC provides a national drought information clearinghouse; assists state, federal, and regional entities in drought planning; advises on policy issues; and interacts with scientists on an international level. The establishment of the National Drought Policy Commission by the U.S. Congress in 1997 indicates a new commitment to a national drought policy that emphasizes risk management, but the accomplishment of this commission is uncertain at this time.

Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1985

Although droughts are a frequent occurrence over much of the United States, response by state and federal government has been ineffective and poorly coordinated. Recently, several states have recognized the value of drought emergency planning and have developed plans to assist them in responding more effectively to prolonged periods of water shortage. These states have created an organizational structure to coordinate the assessment and response activities of state and federal agencies. Each state's drought response plan is unique since each state's water supply and management problems, and their consequent impacts, are unique. The drought response plans developed by Colorado, South Dakota, and New York are reviewed here in detail. We recommend that other states affected by frequent and severe water shortages also develop drought emergency plans. These plans will enhance state government's ability to implement effective measures in a timely manner and, ultimately, may provide added incentive for the federal government to develop the national drought response plan called for by the General Accounting Office in 1979.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2013

Drought is widely known as an insidious hazard due to its complex and unique characteristics. Drought disasters have brought tremendous economic losses and significant social and environmental impacts to communities across the globe. To further understand the hazard drought poses and provide insights into planning for drought preparedness, this article conducts a thorough literature review of drought hazard and drought planning frameworks within the United States. Two main approaches and three major forms of drought planning are discussed and summarized. Based on this review, a preliminary overview of drought planning status in the United States is presented. This study provides insight into major drought planning literature and establishes a link with drought mitigation and adaptation. The article concludes with discussion and implication for future drought planning and a future research outlook.

Water International, 1994

Drought is a recurrent feature of the American landscape. Almost without exception, the occurrence of widespread severe drought in the United States has illustrated the low level of drought preparedness that has existed in federal and state governments. Many state governments, however, have developed formal drought contingency plans since 1982. The primary purpose of this article is to explore some factors that may have influenced the drought planning process at the state level in the United States during the past decade. First, an overview of state drought planning is presented, followed by an exploration of the possible policy influence of a specific set of factors in prompting state drought plan development. This will help to demonstrate that the development of state drought plans is not solely contingent on recent drought experiences. The authors suggest that, in some instances, social, political, and institutional influences on state drought planning since the early 1980s may be as important as, or even more important than, the climatology of drought. The paper concludes by proposing some future directions for state and federal drought planning efforts in the United States. An understanding of the complex issues affecting drought planning in the United States may help other countries understand the factors that might affect the drought planning process in their own unique political setting.

Drought Assessment, Management, and Planning: Theory and Case Studies, 1993

Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1997

Drought has been a common feature in the United States during the past decade and has resulted in significant economic, social, and environmental impacts in virtually all parts of the nation. The purpose of this paper is two fold. First, the status of state drought planning is discussed to illustrate the significant increase in the number of states that have prepared response plans-from three states in 1982 to 27 in 1997. In addition, six states are now in various stages of plan development. Second, mitigative actions implemented by states in response to the series of severe drought years since 1986 are summarized. This information was obtained through a survey of states. The study concludes that states have made significant progress in addressing drought-related issues and concerns through the planning process. However, existing plans are still largely reactive in nature, treating drought in an emergency response mode. Mitigative actions adopted by states provide a unique archive that may be transferable to other states. Incorporating these actions into a more anticipatory, risk management approach to drought management will help states move away from the traditional crisis management approach.

2011