Dealing with droughts

As mentioned in the key-note drought issues are expected to increase in importance as a result of climate change. Droughts are often associated with desert like conditions in Africa but also in Europe droughts occur. Given the socio-economic values involved and the fact that measures to prevent droughts are very costly, droughts may in future even get a higher political weight than flooding, also in Europe. This will certainly be the case in countries where droughts are now already important socio-economic issues such as in Spain and Italy. Some NCR partners are already involved in drought related research but much less than in flooding research. The question arises if NCR should pay more attention to droughts and if so, how and who should be involved. These questions were discussed in this workshop.