Mitigation Tools for States

Mitigating Drought

Mitigation Tools for States

The last 20 years have seen significant progress in proactive drought management. Much of the activity has been at the state level; in the absence of a cohesive U.S. water or drought policy, states had to take the initiative in planning for drought. This section presents the various mitigative tools that U.S. states have employed; they are listed here not as recommendations but to give planners an idea of the available options. Some tools may be inappropriate in some areas.

Wilhite (1993) and Najarian (2000) surveyed U.S. states about actions taken in response to recent droughts. Wilhite (1993) divided the mitigative strategies listed by respondents into 9 categories:

Drought contingency plans form the core of these strategies, although mitigative actions are not restricted to states with plans. The strategies are diverse, reflecting regional differences in impacts, legal and institutional constraints, and characteristics of contingency plans. Case studies of 5 states (Illinois, New York, Washington, Arizona, and South Carolina) illustrate the range of mitigative actions in more detail.

Najarian (2000) categorized mitigation actions according to 11 impact sectors (Water Availability, Municipal Water, Water Shortage/Conservation Activities, Agricultural Industry, Public Information and Education, Fish/Wildlife Preservation, Health, Commerce and Tourism/Economy, Wildfire Protection/Forestry/Public Lands, Energy, and Social), based on survey results from the mid to late 1990s.

References
Najarian, P.A. 2000. An Analysis of State Drought Plans: A Model Drought Plan Proposal. Masters thesis, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Wilhite, D.A. 1997. State Actions to Mitigate Drought: Lessons Learned. Journal of the American Water Resources Association: 33(5):961–968.
Wilhite, D.A. 1993. Drought Mitigation Technologies in the United States: With Future Policy Recommendations. Final Report of a Cooperative Agreement between the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the International Drought Information Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. IDIC Technical Report Series 93–1, International Drought Information Center, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska.