People aren't rational. We automatically swing into action when crisis strikes, freely funnelling time and money into alleviating suffering and property damage. This is crisis management . But once the crisis is over, it seems like too much trouble to invest the time and resources in planning that could ease the effects of the next drought. This is called the hydro-illogical cycle .
Responsibility is divided among many governmental jurisdictions.
The United States lacks a unified philosophy for managing natural resources, including water. A positive side to the drought of 1996 in the southwestern U.S. is that it has yielded a crop of policy initiatives. Historic responses to drought have been ad hoc, with special commissions and interagency groups created in response to specific droughts. Policies such as disaster relief and outdated water allocation practices may actually deter good long-term natural resource management. Planning ahead to mitigate drought gives decisionmakers the chance to relieve the most suffering at the least expense.