The National Drought Mitigation Center Monitoring Drought in the 21 st Century Mark Svoboda, Climatologist National Drought Mitigation Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln

National Drought Mitigation Center Mission: To lessen societal vulnerability to drought by promoting planning and the adoption of appropriate risk management techniques.

NDMC Program Objectives Improve the science of drought monitoring, planning, and mitigation Build awareness of drought and its impacts on society and the environment Build awareness of how human actions affect our vulnerability to drought Focus the attention of policy makers on the importance of drought policy and planning in the wise stewardship of natural resources RESEARCH, OUTREACH, AND TRAINING

Outreach and Training Workshops USDA/RMA U.S. Bureau of Reclamation International Website 6 million page views in 2004 Drought Monitor Drought Impact Reporter Media 500+ national/international media contacts annually International

Characteristics of Crisis Management Reactive, post- impact Poorly coordinated Untimely Poorly targeted Ineffective

Components of Drought Plans Monitoring/early warning Foundation of a drought mitigation plan Indices linked to impacts and triggers Risk and impact assessment Who and what is at risk and why Mitigation and response Actions/programs that reduce risk and impacts and enhance recovery

Natural and Social Dimensions of Drought Meteorological Agricultural Hydrological Socio-economic Decreasing emphasis on the natural event (precipitation deficiencies) Increasing emphasis on water/natural resource management Increasing complexity of impacts and conflicts Time/Duration of the event

Vulnerability Analysis Impact Assessment Social Environmental Economic Causal Assessment Temporal Trends

Western Drought Coordination Council How to Reduce Drought Risk Preparedness and Mitigation Working Group March 1998 Principal Authors: Cody Knutson, National Drought Mitigation Center Mike Hayes, National Drought Mitigation Center Tom Phillips, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

National Initiatives National Drought Preparedness Act National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)

NIDIS Goals Develop leadership and partnerships to ensure implementation of NIDIS Establish an integrated federal drought research program Create a drought early warning system Develop an impact reporting/methodology tool Provide interactive delivery systems (enhance the Drought Monitor) Provide a framework for interacting with and educating decision makers and the public

U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification “To combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought.. including the adoption of drought preparedness plans.”

NDMC International Activities Morocco Drought Observatory Drought/Climate Change Coping Strategies-UNDP DDC NATO Science Program- Czech Republic South Korea National Drought Center Australian National Drought Policy book China/US Drought Monitoring Project w/NOAA/USDA/WMO North American Drought Monitor UNESCO Integrated Drought Risk Management Center for Southern Africa Mediterranean Drought Mitigation Workshop African Drought Risk Policy Forum w/UNDP DDC ISDR Drought Discussion Group MEDROPLAN Project-EC Pakistan National Drought Center Jordan TCP-FAO Sao Paulo Drought Mitigation and Monitoring Center

Global Drought Preparedness Network GOAL: To help nations build greater institutional capacity to cope with drought by promoting risk management and sharing lessons learned on drought monitoring and prediction, mitigation, and preparedness. Building a Network of Regional Networks through Regional and Global Partnerships

Individually, many nations will be unable to improve drought coping capacity. Collectively, through global, regional, and national partnerships, we can share information and experiences to reduce the impacts of drought. Global Drought Preparedness Network

GDPN Regional Networks NEMEDCA Network w/ICARDA, FAO and CIHEAM North American Network Sub-Saharan African Network w/UNDP DDC, ISDR and others Asian Network w/ ESCAP, ISDR, WMO and others

Drought Mitigation CenterNational A Partnership

A Web-Based National Drought Impacts Reporting Tool (DRI Reporter) Mark Svoboda, Michael Hayes, Don Wilhite, Melissa Higgins and Deb Wood National Drought Mitigation Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Why Monitor Drought Impacts? Drought is a normal part of the climatic cycle Drought impacts are significant and widespread Many economic sectors affected Drought is expensive Since 1980, major droughts and heat waves within the U.S. alone have resulted in costs exceeding $100 billion (NCDC)

U.S. Drought Impact Facts Drought is the most costly U.S. natural disaster FEMA estimates losses at $6-8 billion annually (1995) 1988, $39 billion ($62B in 2004 $) 2002, $20+ billion 2003, $15+ billion , ??? Impacts are becoming more complex  agriculture, energy production, transportation, tourism and recreation, forest and wild land fires, urban water supply, environment and human health Conflicts between water users increasing No systematic national, state, or local assessment of drought impacts

DRI Reporter Tool Went live on July 27! Web-based (GIS architecture) package of products and interactive features Ability to incorporate user-supplied input and information/feedback (all levels) A comprehensive archive of news articles Location- and theme-based Map and database formats Clipping service: 7,100 publications daily NDMC: 11,000 news stories since 1997

Potential Outcomes Ability to do national assessments Building first national impacts database/archive Consistent reporting methodologies National, state, local levels Ingest/integrate regional impact data (RISAs, RCCs, SCs, tribal, state/fed reports, academic, etc.) into national database Heighten awareness of drought as a hazard

Visit the NDMC drought.unl.edu Thanks!

The Cycle of Disaster Management