Resumo

VELASCO, Israel  e  MONTESILLO-CEDILLO, José Luis. Elements of Basin Management under Drought Condition. Gest. polít. pública [online]. 2007, vol.16, n.1, pp.5-27. ISSN 1405-1079.

When the available water is not enough to satisfy the human necessities, is when its intrinsic value is appreciated. Drought, as natural phenomenon, has a finite duration, even though it is prolonged for several years, but the sequel of the drought extends beyond its duration, and a severe risk that it brings is desertification, an induced and progressive phenomenon, practically irreversible which magnifies the impacts of water deficit, affecting the whole natural environment as well as the social and economic development.

Although the humid regions do not escape to this risk, they have a bigger capacity of prompt recovery; in these areas, the most severe impacts are erosion and ecological imbalance. In the sub-humid, semi-arid and arid regions, the recurrence and persistence of drought represent a bigger risk of environmental alteration. The growing demand of natural resources to satisfy the human necessities, and the smaller relative readiness of water, are two factors that propitiate severe pressures on environment, and conflicts among water users, and the immoderate use of water leads to overexploitation; then, the unavoidable result is desertification, later aridity, or a state of permanent water deficit.

To face drought with success it is necessary to improve planning and to generate strategies to overcome and mitigate its impacts, and to consider the widest social participation. Adaptation and prevention to an unavoidable event are the best strategy; but without these elements it is difficult to come out well of the problem.

This work suggests some ideas related to drought and water management; their implementation is convenient in the environment of hydrological basins. The objective is to contribute approaches to achieve water sustainability as the axis of the whole natural resources and to mitigate the negative impacts of the phenomenon whose effects are potentially serious for all the environments and in great spatial scale.

Palavras-chave : drought; water deficit; water management..

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