The 2022 drought needs to be a turning point for European drought risk management

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F86652079%3A_____%2F25%3A00642135" target="_blank" >RIV/86652079:_____/25:00642135 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/25/4475/2025/" target="_blank" >https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/25/4475/2025/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-4475-2025" target="_blank" >10.5194/nhess-25-4475-2025</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The 2022 drought needs to be a turning point for European drought risk management

Original language description

The 2022 European drought has underscored critical deficiencies in European water management. This paper explores these shortcomings and suggests a way forward for European drought risk management. In particular, we focus on four key aspects: the increasing drought risk, its spatial and temporal impacts, current management approaches, and how these differ across Europe. We base our findings on a continent-wide survey of water managers involved in responding to the 2022 drought. The survey collected 481 responses from 30 European countries and contained 19 questions on perceived sectorial impacts and the drought risk management practices implemented by the respondents' organizations. Information from the survey was supported with climate-related data on drought severity as quantified by the Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, to offer a comprehensive overview of how extreme historical droughts are managed across Europe. Our findings reveal a consensus on the growing risk of drought, driven by droughts' rising frequency and intensity. While the 2022 event affected most of the continent, our findings show significant regional disparities in management capacity. In many countries particularly those with agriculture-dominated economies drought responses remain short-term and reactive, often leading to potentially maladaptive practices. Despite these challenges, we also observe a positive shift, with organizations showing increased awareness and preparedness. Hence, the lessons learnt from the 2022 event may provide an ideal opportunity to mainstream European-wide drought risk management. To seize this opportunity, we advocate for a European Drought Directive, to harmonize and enforce risk management policies across the continent. This directive should promote a systemic, integrated, and long-term risk management perspective. It should also set clear guidelines at the national and sub-national level, and for cross-boundary drought collaboration. This study and its companion paper, From Crisis to Capacity: Institutional Preparedness and Response During the 2022 European Drought, result from work carried out by the Drought in the Anthropocene network, an initiative of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS).

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10509 - Meteorology and atmospheric sciences

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussion

ISSN

2195-9269

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

25

Issue of the periodical within the volume

11

Country of publishing house

DE - GERMANY

Number of pages

27

Pages from-to

4475-4501

UT code for WoS article

001612365900001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105021879438