1. University of Nebraska  Lincoln R School of Natural Resources Breaking the Hydro-illogical Cycle: Are we making progress? Donald A. Wilhite, Director School of Natural Resources University of Nebraska

3. The Dirty ‘30s.. a reference point

4. The Great Depression will never happen again!

6. Responding to the 1930s Drought First federal response to drought Combination of reactive and proactive responses –Proactive responses emphasized building institutional capacity –Creation of new federal infrastructure –Public works projects Federal efforts in the 1930s sets a precedence for future federal involvement in drought response Similar practices were followed in the 1950s, i.e., a combination of reactive and proactive response measures.

10. Designation of drought emergency areas, 1977. What were the criteria used for designations? 1977

11. Criteria used by the Interagency Drought Coordinating Committee PDSI Political influence

13. Drought impacts today are similar but more complex as more economic sectors are affected, creating more conflicts between water users.

15. How do we break the cycle? STOP!

16. The Cycle of Disaster Management

17. CRISIS MANAGEMENT RISK MANAGEMENT.... requires a paradigm shift! Movement from crisis to risk management..

18. Principle Elements of Drought Risk Reduction Framework

19. University of Nebraska  Lincoln R School of Natural Resources National Drought Mitigation Center.... a catalyst for change Mission Mission: To lessen societal vulnerability to drought by promoting planning and the adoption of appropriate risk management techniques.

23. Support for RISK-BASED DROUGHT MITIGATION PLANNING.... has been from the BOTTOM UP! State/Local/ Tribal Regional Federal

24. ResponseMitigation Increasing need for timely, reliable climate/water supply assessments Increasing need for higher resolution analysis for policy/decision support Increasing need for more reliable seasonal forecasts/outlooks

25. The progression to drought mitigation planning..... Demand for mitigation planning Development of new monitoring tools a synergistic relationship!

29. New tools not only make the USDM task much easier and the finished product more reliable, these tools promote improved decisions by a diverse set of users from local to national and from managers to policy makers.

30. Progress has been impressive........ with more on the way!

31. and then along comes... NIDIS

32. Western Governor’s Association 1996 : Recommendation for national preparation for and response to drought. 2000: Creation of National Drought Policy Commission. 2003: Partnership with NOAA to improve drought monitoring and forecasting. 2004: Formal document published recommending NIDIS. U.S. Congress The 109th Congress introduced a bill (H.R. 1386/S. 802) to improve national drought preparedness, mitigation, and response efforts, etc. Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction (President’s National Science and Technology Council) Highlighted drought as one of the grand challenges for disaster reduction in 2005. Proposed actions calls for developing an implementation plan for NIDIS. U.S. Integrated Earth Observing System NIDIS is one of six near term opportunities identified by U.S. GEO. Major Drivers of NIDIS

33. Are we there yet? Darn!... but we’re making good progress!

34. “If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.” Dan Quayle

35. University of Nebraska  Lincoln R School of Natural Resources That’s all folks! School of Natural Resources snr.unl.edu dwilhite2@unl.edu