Drought is a subtle, insidious natural hazard that is a normal part of the climate of

virtually all regions of the world. Its occurrence results in a myriad of economic,
social, and environmental impacts in developed as well as developing nations,
although the characteristics of its impacts differ considerably between the two
settings.
Drought is considered by many to be the most complex but least understood of all
natural hazards, affecting more people than any other. It is a normal feature of
climate and its recurrence is inevitable. However, there remains much confusion
about its characteristics. It is precisely this confusion that explains, to some extent,
the lack of emphasis on proactive drought management efforts in most parts of the
world. Through an improved understanding of the inevitability and characteristics of
drought, as well as its differences from other natural hazards, scientists,
policymakers, and the public will be better equipped to establish much-needed
policies and plans whereby future vulnerability to drought can be reduced.

Drought as a Natural Hazard

Drought differs from other natural hazards in several ways. First, drought is a slow-
onset, creeping natural hazard. Its effects often accumulate slowly over a
considerable period of time and may linger for years after the termination of the
drought event. Second, the absence of a precise and universally accepted definition
of drought adds to the confusion about whether a drought exists and, if it does, its
degree of severity. Third, the impacts of

During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, nearly two-thirds of the U.S. land area experienced severe to extreme
drought conditions. This ruined farm is buried under layers of dirt and sand blown across the landscape.

drought are nonstructural and typically are spread over a larger geographical area
than are damages resulting from other natural hazards. These characteristics of
drought have hindered the development of accurate, reliable, and timely estimates of
severity and impacts and, ultimately, the formulation of effective drought
preparedness plans.

Drought Characteristics and Definition

Drought results from a deficiency of precipitation from statistically normal (long-term
average) amounts that, when extended over a season or especially over a longer
period of time, is insufficient to meet the demands of human activities. All types of
drought originate from a deficiency of precipitation that results in water shortages for
some activity (such as crop production) or for some group (such as farmers). The
incidence of drought in the United States during the period from 1895 to early 2002
is shown in the figure on page 262.
Droughts differ from one another in three essential characteristics: intensity,
duration, and spatial coverage. Moreover, many disciplinary perspectives of drought
exist. Because of these numerous and diverse disciplinary views, considerable
confusion often exists over exactly what constitutes a drought. Regardless of such
disparate views, the overriding feature of drought is its negative impacts on people
and the environment.

This graph shows the percent area of the United States in severe and extreme drought during the twentieth
century.

Types of Drought
Drought is normally grouped by type: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, and
socioeconomic. The impacts associated with drought usually take 3 months or more
to develop, but this time period can vary considerably, depending on the timing of the
initiation of the precipitation deficiency.

Meteorological.
Meteorological drought is expressed solely on the basis of the degree of dryness in
comparison to some normal or average amount and the duration of the dry period.
Thus, intensity and duration are the key characteristics of this type of drought.

Agricultural.
Agriculture is usually the first economic sector to be affected by drought because soil
moisture content is often quickly depleted, especially if the period of moisture
deficiency is associated with high temperatures and windy conditions. Agricultural
drought links various characteristics of meteorological drought to agricultural
impacts, focusing on precipitation shortages, differences between actual
and potential evapotranspiration , and soil water deficits. A thorough definition of
agricultural drought should account for the variable susceptibility of crops at different
stages of development.

Hydrological.
Hydrological droughts are associated with the effects of periods of precipitation
shortfall on surface or subsurface water supply (for example, streamflow, reservoir
and lake levels, and groundwater ) rather than with precipitation shortfalls.
Hydrological droughts usually lag the occurrence of meteorological and agricultural
droughts because more time elapses before precipitation deficiencies are detected in
reservoirs, groundwater, and other components of the hydrologic system. As a
result, impacts of hydrological drought are out of phase with impacts of other drought
types. Also, water in hydrological storage systems such as reservoirs, rivers, and
groundwater often is used for multiple and competing purposes, further complicating
the sequence and quantification of impacts. Water uses affected by drought can
include purposes as varied as power generation, flood control, irrigation, drinking
water, industry, and recreation.

Socioeconomic.
Socioeconomic drought associates the supply and demand of some economic good
or service with elements of meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural drought. In
socioeconomic drought, deficiencies of precipitation are linked directly to the supply
of some commodity or economic good (for example, water, hay, or hydroelectric
power). Increases in population can alter substantially the demand for these
economic goods over time. The incidence of socioeconomic drought can increase
because of a change in the frequency of meteorological drought, a change in
societal vulnerability to water shortages, or both. For example, poor land-use
practices such as overgrazing can decrease animal carrying capacity and increase
soil erosion, which exacerbates the impacts of, and vulnerability to, future droughts.

The Impacts of Drought

The impacts of drought are diverse and often ripple through the economy. Thus,
impacts are often referred to as either direct or indirect. A loss of yield resulting from
drought is a direct or first-order impact of drought. However, the consequences of
that impact (for example, loss of income, farm foreclosures, and government relief
programs) are secondary or even tertiary impacts.
The impacts of drought appear to be increasing in both developing and developed
countries, which in many cases reflects the persistence of nonsustainable
development and population growth. Lessening the impacts of future drought events
will require nations to pursue development of drought policies that emphasize a wide
range of risk management techniques, including improved monitoring and early
warning systems, preparedness plans, and appropriate mitigation actions and
programs.
The impacts of drought that must be addressed can be classified into one of three
principal types: economic, environmental, and social.

Economic Losses.
Economic impacts range from direct losses in the broad agricultural and
agriculturally related sectors (including forestry and fishing), to losses in recreation,
transportation, banking, and energy sectors. Other economic impacts would include
added unemployment and loss of revenue to local, state, and federal government.

Environmental Impacts.
Environmental losses include damages to plant and animal species, wildlife habitat,
and air and water quality; forest and range fires; degradation of landscape quality;
and soil erosion. These losses are difficult to quantify, but growing public awareness
and concern for environmental quality has forced public officials to focus greater
attention on them.

Impacts on Society.
Social impacts mainly involve public safety, health, conflicts between water users,
and inequities in the distribution of impacts and disaster relief programs. As with all
natural hazards, the economic impacts of drought are highly variable within and
between economic sectors and geographic regions, producing a complex assortment
of winners and losers with the occurrence of each disaster.

Drought Preparedness and Mitigation

Drought is considered by many people to be strictly a natural or physical event. This
view of drought provides little, if any, opportunity to alter the impact of drought
through the application of appropriate drought management techniques. In reality,
drought has both physical and social components, and it is essential that water
managers and decisionmakers understand

A prolonged drought in the eastern United States in 1999 lowered the water level of the Lehigh River
approximately 5 feet. The much-reduced flow affected municipal and industrial uses along the river,
including the Bethlehem Steel Plant (background).
both components if they are to make progress in reducing the risks associated with
drought for future generations.
It is critical that the people inhabiting each geographic region understand their
exposure to the drought hazard: for example, the probability of drought occurrence at
various severity levels. However, the risks associated with drought for any region are
products of both the region's exposure to the event and the vulnerability of its society
to a drought at that point in time. Vulnerability, unlike the natural event, is determined
by varied social factors. Examples include:

 Population changes;
 Population shifts (region to region and rural to urban);
 Demographic characteristics;
 Environmental awareness (or lack thereof);
 Level of technology;
 Wisdom and applicability of government policies;
 Land management practices; and
 Social behavior.

These factors change over time and thus vulnerability is likely to increase or
decrease in response to these changes. Subsequent droughts in the same region
will have different effects, even if they are identical in intensity, duration, and spatial
characteristics, because societal characteristics will have changed. However, much
can be done to lessen societal vulnerability to drought through the development of
preparedness plans that emphasize risk management and the adoption of
appropriate mitigation actions and programs.

Management Alternatives During Drought.

Many of the management alternatives available to water suppliers to prepare for and
respond to drought events fall into two broad categories: demand management and
supply augmentation.
Demand Management

 Public information and education campaigns

 Emergency conservation programs
 Water service restrictions
 Restrictions on nonessential uses of water
 Prohibition of selected commercial uses
 Drought emergency pricing
 Water rationing programs
 Augmentation
 Improvements in water systems (for example, leak detection, lining of
transmission canals)
 Emergency sources of supply (for example, emergency interconnections,
drilling new wells)
 Management of available water resources (for example, emergency water
banks, overdrafting of groundwater aquifers)
 Search for new supplies of water
In summary, increased emphasis can and should be placed on drought
mitigation and preparedness, as well as prediction and early warning capabilities, if
society is to reduce the economic and environmental damages associated with
drought and its personal hardships. This will require interdisciplinary cooperation and
a collaborative effort with policymakers at all levels.

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Drought Risk Reduction: Gaps in Governance

Drought Management starts well before the actual occurrence of drought. Based on the
meteorological data, weather forecasting is done, which, in turn, indicates the probability of
drought incidence. In the event of possible drought, the institutional mechanism should be
geared up to prepare the people to face the drought. Adequate administrative measures should
help in planning and monitoring in the affected area regarding the needs such as water, food,
sanitation, health, and social security of the people, especially in the drought-affected areas.
Concerned departments should ensure that the needs of the affected community are met
through effective implementation and monitoring of drought mitigation strategies in these
areas. These drought management activities should be taken up continuously and
systematically in war footing to save people, livestock, environment, and other affected
components in the drought-affected areas. It is observed that right from the declaration of
droughts till the implementation of drought relief measures, there are inordinate delays. To
alleviate adverse drought effects on the affected communities, the gaps or lapses in the
drought management, mentioned next may be looked into for good governance:
•

For drought preparedness, monitoring, and management, the state should have a
drought management policy with specific guidelines to each department dealing with
the drought management.
•

The drought management involves many organizations, national, state, and local
levels; at times they lack proper guidelines to handle the emergencies. Coordination
and cooperation of these organizations is a must to handle the droughts effectively.
•

Need for a proper location-specific assessment of the drought indicating the extent,
severity, and possible drought-proofing measures for the drought vulnerable areas.
Different institutes involved tackling the same activity that creates operational
problems, so the goals of each institute are to be specified.
•

Drought management is to be dealt with a humanistic approach with a positive

attitude of saving people, livestock, biota, and environment. Drought management
measures such as water, food, fodder, sanitation, health, and social security should be
implemented meticulously and with sincerity without any delay.
•
 Local organizations find very low importance in drought management, but they will
have site-specific information on the impact of droughts and the existing indigenous
technologies, so they should be involved and entrusted the responsibility to solve the
problems.
•

The paucity and timely availability of funds and manpower. Provision of funds
through microcredit or under drought relief without any delay would save the needy
effectively. Measures are to be taken in capacity building of the different vulnerable
sections (women) of the affected communities through training in traditional skill
development.
Climate change projections indicate a higher incidence and intensity of warm conditions in
several regions in India and also increased water stress due to conflicting demands from
different sectors. Hence, to equip with changing climate conditions, we need to initiate
suitable, long-term measures as soon as possible, and all these plans should consider child-
centered risk reduction aspects.
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