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Présentation en anglais
Droughts occur very frequently in many regions of the world with severe economic and
social consequences also connected to the vulnerability of the water supply systems and
of society in general. Such vulnerability is due to situations of permanent water scarcity,
quality deterioration and increasing water demands deriving from population growth,
tourist development and irrigation needs. Climate change is introducing a new
dimension in drought management in many regions, as for example, the Mediterranean,
since the projections of the recent relevant reports for this area predict climatic
conditions with higher temperatures and more frequent droughts. Thus, a policy for
drought management requires actions aimed to improve drought preparedness and to
mitigate impacts.
The objective of the First International Conference "Drought management: scientific and
technological innovations", held in Zaragoza (Spain) from 12 to 14 June, was to
introduce the new scientific and technological concepts and tools to be used in drought
management plans in the context of agriculture, urban supply, and water management,
highlighting the successful experiences based on preparedness and risk-based
management as a critical approach to mitigate the impacts associated with drought in
societies with different vulnerabilities. Scientific and technological innovations in the
fields of climatology, hydrology, drought and drought impact assessment, drought risk
and vulnerability analysis and decision support tools for drought management were
presented.
The Conference was organised in the framework of the Medroplan project. This
project is funded by the Euro-Mediterranean Regional Programme for Local Water
Management (MEDA Water), coordinated by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of
Zaragoza - CIHEAM and counts with the participation of scientists and stakeholders
from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia that have developed Drought
Management Guidelines for Mediterranean countries.
This volume contains 59 articles from contributions that were presented in the
Conference, showing scientifical and technical advances as well as drought
management experiences in Mediterranean and non Mediterranean countries. The
scope of the articles ranges from global and general issues such as the predictions of
drought occurrence under climate change or the methods of drought assessment, to
local experiences at basin level for factoring drought into integrated water management.
