ABSTRACT
Droughts are regional in nature and, unlike other water hazards, their impacts don’t have precise borders. Regional characteristics of a drought, such as covered area, total water deficit, or return time, are very important in determining the phenomenon’s severity and thereafter for setting a regional drought management plan (DMP). There are some major challenges in the debate about regional drought research—challenges that stress the importance of developing a comprehensive understanding of the climatology of drought and determining the features of these events at regional level. A clear understanding of droughts and their behavior will improve the resilience of the affected regions and their capacity to recover after such events. A DMP should be prepared in advance, based on relevant country-specific legislation and careful studies concerning the characteristics of the drought in the region, its effect, and possible mitigation measures. Regional drought policies and plans should specify the respective roles of different regional stakeholders and available resources that will be required to implement appropriate drought risk reduction activities. This chapter attempts to realize a functional analysis of regional drought management by gathering the disperse information on this topic and identifying knowledge gaps and future research directions.
