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.