Abstract
Drought is one of the most damaging natural hazards in the Iberian Peninsula, causing varied socioeconomic and environmental impacts. To prevent these impacts, there must be close cooperation between Portugal and Spain, as the two countries share five river basins. However, regarding drought planning and management the two countries are clearly in different stages. Portugal approved a national drought plan in 2017, while Spain has already had drought plans in place for all River Basin Districts since 2007 and approved an updated version of these plans in 2018. The Spanish drought plans currently in place foresee two sets of indicators: prolonged drought and scarcity indicators. This paper presents the definition of similar indicators for the Portuguese part of the shared Minho and Lima river basins, according to European guidelines and in common with Spain, with the aim of developing a joint international drought management plan for these basins. For the period from October 1980 to September 2017, the comparison of the indicators obtained for the Portuguese parts of the basins with the corresponding Spanish ones shows a similarity in the occurrence of drought and scarcity in both parts of the basins, although with a higher prevalence of scarcity situations in the Lima Spanish part. This work was developed in close collaboration with the River Basin District competent authorities of both countries, aiming to be a prototype for the definition of new and comparable drought and operational scarcity indicators. Therefore, this work is a starting point for the creation of common tools for integrated drought management of transboundary basins in the IP.
Highlights
Civil Engineering Department, Hydraulics, Water Resources and Environment Division, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
By applying the methodology presented in Section 2.2.1, the Prolonged Drought Indicator (PDI) was calculated for the Portuguese part of the Minho and Lima river basins for the period from October 1980 to September 2017
The goal of the present work was the definition of common drought indicators in the shared river basins as a tool for the better coordination of drought and water scarcity management in the Iberian Peninsula
Summary
Civil Engineering Department, Hydraulics, Water Resources and Environment Division, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal. Drought is one of the most damaging natural hazards in the Iberian Peninsula, causing varied socioeconomic and environmental impacts. To prevent these impacts, there must be close cooperation between Portugal and Spain, as the two countries share five river basins. Regarding drought planning and management the two countries are clearly in different stages. This paper presents the definition of similar indicators for the Portuguese part of the shared Minho and Lima river basins, according to European guidelines and in common with. This work was developed in close collaboration with the River Basin District competent authorities of both countries, aiming to be a prototype for the definition of new and comparable drought and operational scarcity indicators.
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