The Basics of Drought Planning: A 10-Step Process

This National Drought Mitigation Center paper outlines 10 key steps for effective drought planning.

Because droughts are a normal part of virtually any climate, it is important to develop plans to reduce their impacts. The drought planning process outlined in this paper was first published in 1990, as part of a research project funded by the National Science Foundation (Wilhite, 1990). Since 1990, it has been revised and updated several times to reflect greater state, national, and international experience in drought planning. Greater emphasis on mitigation and preparedness; recent workshops on drought planning; and a methodology for conducting risk analysis have also helped reshape the drought planning methodology.

The process discussed in this paper is written for application at the state level, but the methodology is generic and can be adapted to any level of government in any country.