Tools for Drought Mitigation in Mediterranean Regions

Significant vulnerability of water systems to drought is a common issue of water resources management in Mediterranean regions. This is due both to the increasing occurrence and severity of drought events and to the growing demand for municipal, tourist, and agricultural uses. The INCO-DC project entitled A Decision Support System for Mitigation of Drought Impacts in the Mediterranean Regions (DSS­ DROUGHT) addresses this issue, contributing to an improved management of water­ supply systems for irrigation, which represents the most consumptive sector of water resources uses in the Mediterranean region. In order to develop a comprehensive approach toward improved operation of irrigation systems under drought conditions, the project was developed around the following five main, strictly interconnected tasks: Identification of drought characteristics at a site and over a region Modelling irrigation management under conditions of water scarcity Modelling operation of water supply systems under drought conditions Integration of the developed methodologies within a Decision Support System software package Definition of requisites for Drought Watch Systems The research resulted in an advancement of knowledge through in-depth analysis of innovative methodologies, the development of tools to help decision-makers in coping with droughts through the implementation of the developed procedures in software packages, and the application of these tools to the case-studies identified by partners in their countries.