Harvey Hill1, Terry Rolfe2, Elaine Wheaton3, Rick Lawford4, John Pomeroy5, Ron Stewart6
1 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
2 Consultant
3 Saskatchewan Research Council
4 Drought Research Iniatitive
5 University of Saskatchewan
6 Mcgill University
Contact: hillh@agr.gc.ca
A great deal has been written regarding the inefficiencies of current approaches to preparing for and responding to droughts. Normally politicians, scientists, public servants, institutions, and private sector decision makers expend an intense amount of activity during a drought or extreme event only to stop almost all activities when the drought ends. Consequently knowledge is lost, opportunities for advanced preparation are squandered, and resources are needlessly wasted. This process has been facetiously described as the hydro-illogical cycle. Scientists involved in the CFCAS funded Drought Research Initiative are exploring ways to link their research results to the decision-making processes of their operational partners. Ideally this will help identify ways to facilitate enhanced drought preparation and response both physically and socio-economically. This presentation will describe how this effort builds on work done in Canada, the United States, and Australia and extend it. The presentation will also discuss how these activities could become part of the operational risk management and warning system of Agriculture Canada’s climate unit and its Federal and Provincial partners. Furthermore, the presentation will consider how this approach could potentially support efforts to proactively address and enhance drought responses under current and projected future conditions, both domestically and with U.S. and Mexican partners.