Investing in Drought Preparedness

Drought is a normal part of climate for virtually every country. This paper notes that in response, a risk-based management approach is more cost effective because it emphasizes improved monitoring and early warning systems; development of strong decision-support systems; identification and implementation of mitigation actions; education and training of policy makers, natural resources managers, and the public; and drought mitigation plans that reduce the most serious impacts. The paper concludes with general recommendations that would benefit all sectors: improving the reliability of seasonal climate forecasts and increasing their use could improve decision making for water management; establishing an automated weather station network could provide end users with near-real time data to improve decision-making; altering operating procedures for water reservoir management and augmenting water storage capacity of surface and subsurface systems could improve drought coping capacity; improving information delivery systems and providing technical assistance could improve decision making by government officials, agricultural producers, and water managers during droughts and help create the necessary infrastructure; and improving water conservation practices for domestic and agricultural sectors during drought and non-drought periods and monitoring the effects of drought on water quality for both surface and groundwater supplies would help to mitigate risks overall.