Decision Support Systems for Drought Management Strategies in Metropolitan Athens

Abstract

Drought constitutes a rather severe hazard to all human activities, and especially to water supply. After numerous efforts to improve planning and management actions against droughts, many deficiencies still remain. The major new challenge is the development of integrated, comprehensive, and effective drought management schemes, with the aid of decision support systems (DDS), particularly under extreme and adverse condition. These conditions can be found in the physical, structural, socio-economic and institutional environment. The metropolitan Athens area in Greece, a semiarid area where the water supply is accomplished by a series of reservoirs and conveyance structures approximately 190 km to the west of the region, reflects such a case. In this regard, the present paper is trying to identify appropriate solutions for the above problematic areas by incorporating elements of integrated drought management strategies. The resulting options may be used as a means to avoid undesirable effects or major future crises in meeting the continuous challenge of drought and in fortifying a risk management commitment.