The limits of resilience in US community responses to recent drought events

ABSTRACT

Drought threatens many facets of community life, including food security, agricultural and tourism livelihoods, recreation, esthetic appeal, and social cohesion. Many policy responses to a drought crisis are enacted at the municipal level, including voluntary water conservation, burn bans, outdoor watering restrictions, municipal water source expansion, and drought contingency plans. Though communities have many reasons to limit their vulnerability to future drought events, it is questionable whether these measures do. In a comprehensive survey of more than 450 news media reports on drought response in communities across the United States, this study defines 27 common response approaches. Results show that responses tend to be short-term emergency coping measures. Temporary water restrictions may not leave communities prepared to address future water crises. Furthermore, restrictions can create tension amongst levels of governance. Recommendations based in resilience theory suggest that collaboration, engagement, and forward-looking planning processes are necessary to address community drought vulnerability.

KEYWORDS:

• Community recovery
• drought
• natural disasters
• resilience
• water policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This definition assumes that the demands for water are in balance with water supply during normal conditions.

2. The tool is available at http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/map/.

3. To reflect the smallest scale of drought events, the US Drought Monitor map is presented with county-level resolution. The shortest duration the map can convey is one week at a time.

4. Community drought resilience is defined on page 5, line 147, as “the ability to withstand abnormally dry conditions, design and implement recovery programs, and adopt practices that reduce future vulnerability to extended periods of reduced precipitation or water availability.”

5. It is worth noting, however, that fines for violating water use restrictions may be unevenly enforced. In Apple Valley, CA, a family was fined for excessive water use, even after they reduced their consumption below 200 gal/day, while a Bel Air individual user of 30,000 gal/day was not fined. A national newspaper picked up this story in November 2015. The problem carries over to industry: water conservation measures may be easier for larger businesses to abide by. For example, in Chico, California, a large craft brewing company complied with conservation measures by digging a well and installing a water treatment plant. Smaller breweries may not have the resources to comply with efficiency measures, or to access their own supplies to make up for the reduction in municipal utility use. Unfortunately, some problems of inequality and uneven enforcement remain, even after a drought is over.