REACTIONS AND RESPONSES TO RECENT URBAN DROUGHTS

Responses to recent (post-1980) urban droughts in several United States cities with widely different physical locales and climates revealed that existing water sources were not adequate for a variety of reasons but primarily because of growth of demand, legal restrictions affecting increased usage, and competition for water. Most urban officials viewed droughts as infrequent events, were not prone to seek permanent costly solutions, and tended to rely on crisis management. The drought assessments revealed there was sufficient water wasted to allow voluntary and then mandatory conservation restrictions to see the cities through the stress of the droughts of the 1980s and 1990s. For these reasons, these droughts have not led to the development of major new and costly sources such as construction of major reservoirs. The droughts have led to some permanent shifts in ways to conserve urban waters, new but not expensive facilities to acquire or move water, and, in drier areas such as California, the development of various ways to more effectively manage existing waters (i.e., sales between competitors, increased pricing, conservation, and changes in water laws to gain more flexibility). Some cities also have developed meaningful drought contingency plans instead of relying on crisis management during droughts. In general, the noted responses since the 1980s represent a major shift away from the traditional way of water management based on a belief that available storage would see a city or region through any drought. [Key words: water conservation, water resources, urban drought.]