Urban drought

Abstract

Drought is recognized as one of the most complex natural hazards that have a large negative impact on society, economic sectors and the environment. Drought events affect freshwater resources and can become a great threat to urban water supply systems. According to climate change projections with an increase of air temperature and duration of dry periods, cities may experience a serious water shortage in the future that can limit sustainable urban development. Water-related consequences in urban areas can concern various socio-economic sectors as well as urban ecosystems. This paper focuses on drought in urban areas as an event of below-average natural water availability that can result in difficulties in meeting the water needs of socio-economic sectors and ecosystems particularly vulnerable to drought. Drought vulnerable sectors were identified within the local context of the City of Wroclaw area. Long-term analyses of meteorological and hydrological indicators were performed in order to estimate the drought hazard in Wrocław. A combination of water shortage hazard and the vulnerability of water users were the basis to assess local drought risks. Reducing the drought risk requires coherent actions from both city and water managers. The paper presents a set of recommendable measures to avoid potential water shortages and to cope with impacts of drought in the Wroclaw area.