ABSTRACT

In recent decades, drought events in the Mediterranean region, especially in the authors’ country, Turkey, have occurred more frequently, due to the decrease and irregularity in precipitation and relatively high temperatures. Most experts have said this variability owes its effect to climate change in the region. Drought events in this region have required institutions, organizations, and regional and central governments to implement certain precautions, those that are commonly oriented toward mitigating the impact of drought where it is deleterious to human life and to vulnerable sectors in the economy. Typically, such measures have been applied when drought events have intensely impacted many countries or regions. Some countries, those that are frequently affected by drought events, implement these measures under wet nondrought conditions by monitoring humidity with specific indicators. Then they put into action a gradual plan for the geographic region. In this chapter, we discuss all these experiences and principles for managing a drought event, focusing on the case of Turkey, which has changed its drought policies under the risk assessment approach, especially in the agricultural 346sector. In addition, a model combining administrative units and geographical regions in integrated basin management principles is presented to decision-makers.