Developing Multiple Indicators and Triggers for Drought Plans
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 132, Issue 3
Abstract
Drought plans depend on indicators and triggers to characterize drought conditions and guide drought responses. Yet indicators and triggers often suffer from deficiencies, such as temporal and spatial inconsistency, statistical incomparability, and operational indeterminacy. Further, even though indicators and triggers are vital to drought hazard reduction, they are often selected and used arbitrarily, undermining the potential value of drought plans. Addressing these concerns, this paper provides a process and analytic methods for the development, analysis, and evaluation of indicators and triggers. In addition, this paper details their application to Georgia’s first state drought plan. Results are transferable to other drought plans, offering scientific justification, operational relevancy, and guidance for drought mitigation and response.
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Acknowledgments
The writers thank the four reviewers of this paper for their very helpful comments. They also thank Dan Ribeiro for his valuable assistance. This research received support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSFCMS 9874391, and from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Pollution Prevention Assistance Division and the Environmental Protection Division. Any opinions, findings, or conclusions are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agencies that provided support.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 132 • Issue 3 • May 2006
Pages: 164 - 174
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 6, 2004
Accepted: Sep 22, 2005
Published online: May 1, 2006
Published in print: May 2006
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