Drought Mitigation Mitigating Drought - Taking actions in advance of drought to reduce its long-term risk Involve a wide range of tool: plans, policies, activities and programsComponents of a Drought Mitigation plan Prediction Possibility of drought Monitoring Area Basis, time basis, agriculture aspects, Impact assessment severity of the drought e.g. suffiency of water to population Early-warning systems hydrological modelling, climatic modelling Action plans to deal with severity water shortage, famine Relief and responses state, administrative organizations etc.Main objectives to combat drought Strategies for drought preparedness (short and long term) reducing vulnerability of production systems to drought. Strengthen the flow of early-warning information implement strategies for drought intervention. Develop and integrate drought-relief schemesMitigation plans/actions Implemented during and before drought to reduce magnitude of risk to human life, property and productive capacity. We must shift from drought relief to drought mitigation measures. Important for adapting to climate change, restoring ecological balance, and bringing development benefits to the people.Mitigation Strategies Land and water management watershed based scheme Alternative cropping strategies Soil and water conservation Water/Rainwater harvesting techniques

Drought Monitoring and Early Warning Re: Drought is typically a slow-onset phenomenon Often possible to provide early warning of an emerging drought Early warning allows for a shift from reactive to proactive hazard management Eg U.S Multiple climate indices and indicators, China Standard Precipitation Index to monitor drought SADM (South Asia Drought Management) based on Remote sensing data and GIS

Mitigation Measures & Preparedness Structural/Physical Sand Dams Non-Structural Policies, awareness Water scarcity use of groundwater dam (Would require proper and efficient engineering) Protecting soil helps absorb precipitation and can also help famers use less water Water conservation in terms of water conservation devices such as low-flow toilets, shower heads and washing machines. Desalination of seawater, water recycling and rainwater harvesting.Mitigation Measures & Protection Capacity Building Afforestation Dams need to be maintained to keep efficiency as when constructed. Cloud seeding artificial method to induce rainfall Drought monitoring continuous observation of rainfall levels and comparisons with usage levels help prevent man made drought. E.G analysis of water usage in Yemen reveal that their groundwater table was at a grave risk by over use for khat crop. Monitoring of moisture levels help predict increased risk for wildfires, using such metrics as Palmer Drought Index Planned crop rotation minimizes erosion and allows farmers to plant less water-dependent crops in drier years. Outdoor water-use restriction regulate use of *sprinkles, hoses or buckets on outdoor plants, filling pools Rain water harvesting collection and storage of rainwater from roofs or other suitable catchments Transvasement Building canals or redirecting rivers as massive attempts at irrigation in drought-prone areas. Examples store water underground, rather than on the surface.Ex: Mothers Water Cellar project launched in August 2000 by China Women Development Foundation Now provides readily accessible potable water for about one million people in rural China. Percolation Tanks for Groundwater recharge. Groundwater dams structures that intercept or obstruct natural flow of groundwater and store water underground.Priciple instead of storing the water in surface reservoirs, water is stored in underground less contamination.No Problem of Submergence of land. Sub-surface dam Intercepts or obstructs the flow of an aquifer. Reduces variation of level of groundwater table upstream of the dam. It is built entirely under the ground.

Sand Storage Dam Constructed above ground, sand and soil particles transported during periods of highflow (like a flood) are allowed to deposit behind the dam. It is also constructed in layers to allow sand to be deposited and finer material be washed downstream

Water cellar digging cellar to collect rainwater

Impact Sectors(i) Water availability(ii) Muncipal Water(iii) WATER Shortage/Conservation activities(iv) Agricultural Industry(v) Public information and education(vi) Fish/wildlife preservation(vii) Health(viii) Commerce and tourism/economy(ix) Wildfire protection/forestry/public lands(x) Energy(xi) Social

Limitations/Challenges of Drought Monitoring Meteorological and hydrological data networks are often inadequate in terms of the density of stations. Data quality is also a problem because of missing data or an inadequate length of record. Highcost of data limits their application in drought monitoring, preparedness, mitigation and response. Forecasts are often unreliable on the seasonal timescale and lack specificity, reducing their usefulness for agriculture and other sectors.

Note FOR CRISSY:Direct impacts: withering crops, dry watering points, reduced forage for livestockAlso start the last point like this:Having taken into account all the aforementioned impacts of droughts it is thus important to mitigate against the adverse impacts of droughts. As a result new engineering techniques must be taught and implemented. To effectively mitigate against droughts however, we must first understand mitigation on a process.