The drought of 1986 in the Southeast and the nationwide drought of 1988 were rude reminders of the threats related to extreme drought conditions. No similar widespread drought had so affected the nation since 1953-54, but there have been severe regional droughts in several areas, notably the Northeast in the mid 1960s and the West in 1977. Objectives of the study were to Assess the extent to which local governments have adopted drought contingency plans for public water supplies Examine the criteria and analytical techniques on which these plans are being developed and by which their implementation is being triggered Evaluate the plans, criteria, and analytical procedures Suggest improvements based on findings related to the first three objectives Investigators used two mail surveys and a series of case studies to examine the extent, nature, and effectiveness of drought contingency planning in the United States. A number of case studies were used to explore the current state of practice in greater detail, including conventional and innovative approaches. The report also includes the development of a risk-based drought management model, and examines the effectiveness of drought management plans with the use of models for daily water use.
Simple methods tend to produce very misleading results.