A DROUGHT MONITOR PROTOTYPE FOR THE CAROLINAS

Drought mitigation and planning require a monitoring system that considers a range of spatial and temporal scales, includes indices that relate to specific impacts, and meets the diverse needs of decision makers. Existing regional prototypes can guide the scape and design of the drought monitoring component of a National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS. In this poster, we demonstrate one prototype that emerged in response to a recent four-year drought in the Carolinas as well as to water management negotiations associated with dam relicensing in two large river basins. This regional drought monitoring system accommodates diverse decision makers that must consider drought across different physical and political units and in the context of state and local ordinances. Its flexible, open-architecture design meets these needs as well as the reality of wide-ranging definitions of and sensitivity to drought.