Drought planning research in the United States: An overview and outlook

Xinyu Fu,Jianjun Wu,Kevin Mcmillan,Zhenghong Tang

doi:10.1007/s13753-013-0006-x

Abstract

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.

Highlights

The recent consecutive drought events in the United States have reminded people of drought’s catastrophic nature, especially since the 2012 drought broke the record and became the spatially most extensive drought since the 1930’s (NCDC 2012)
Preparedness, and mitigation are in a youthful stage in many parts of the United States
Local emergency managers are generally the leaders in most communities, regions, and states in planning for drought response. These managers generally share little connection with land use planners, who are very capable at enhancing drought preparedness through land use planning for longterm risk management

Summary

Introduction

The recent consecutive drought events in the United States have reminded people of drought’s catastrophic nature, especially since the 2012 drought broke the record and became the spatially most extensive drought since the 1930’s (NCDC 2012). Known as a slow onset hazard, the drought of 2012 across the central plains has been referred to as a “flash drought” by a NOAA report due to its very fast onset. This drought has overturned our understanding of the hazard, and further revealed the difficulty of drought prediction and the inability to fully understand the hazard itself, its evolving processes, and the underlying causes (NOAA 2013). Since drought is highly unpredictable and our inability to fully understand the hazard itself and its root causes may hinder the progress of enhancing early prediction, warning, and timely response, various scholars and governmental officials have advocated devoting additional effort and resources to drought response and planning

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion