Drought Monitoring and Management

Introduction

The occurrence of drought hazards has seen a significant increase in the Region of Latin America and the Caribbean, affecting over 60 million people over the last decades (EM-DATA, 2015). Mitigating the impacts of drought is a top priority of many governments in the LAC region, in order to move away from reactive crisis management and work towards pro-active climate risk management. This requires insight into the causes and characteristics of drought events and its processes, in order to identify the vulnerability of livelihoods to drought hazards.

Specific Objectives

The project will provide support to:

  • develop drought monitoring and early-warning capacities at the regional, national and watershed level for improved drought management;
  • consolidate a network of drought specialists dealing with drought and desertification issues in the Region;
  • organize regional meetings to exchange experiences on drought management tools.

Project Activities

  • National Drought Observatories

In close collaboration with national governments and their governmental agencies dealing with drought issues, a set of pilot national drought observatories are currently under development. More detailed information on these pilot versions for Chile, Peru and Honduras can be found here.

  • The Latin American and Caribbean Flood and Drought Monitor

In November 2014, the Latin American and Caribbean Flood and Drought Monitor was launched to identify current and future flood and drought hazards accurring in the Region. More information can be found here.

History

 

 

  • 17 June 2013

The first National Drought Monitoring and Early Warning system for Chile was launched on the International Day to Combat Desertification ad Drought. read more...

  • 28 November 2012

The Climate Data Library for regional data sets was installed, as a joint initiative of IRI, CAZALAC, CEAZA and UNESCO. Maproom capabilities will be added shortly.

  • 22 October 2012

The project activity 'Drought Monitoring and Management' was presented at the Second Regional Euroclima Workshop on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (minutes).

MWAR LAC - Managing Water Resources in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions of Latin America and the Caribbean