ABSTRACT
The persistent drought that most of Mexico experienced from the last months of 2010 until 2013 exposed the limitations of dealing with the phenomenon using a reactive approach. Drought impacts may lead to social and political unrest in different sectors of the community, and since reactive approaches seldom help to solve water crises, a vicious circle of anger, opposition, and unrest makes it even harder to effectively allocate available water among these sectors. In January 2013, at the beginning of the new federal administration, the president of Mexico instructed the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) to implement the national program against drought (PRONACOSE). The main objectives of PRONACOSE are to develop and implement the drought prevention and mitigation programs (PMPMS) and address drought events at the watershed level. The Interministerial Commission (IC) served as the coordination tool for all the mitigation activities that the federal government implemented during the last part of the long drought.
