Experiences in Proactive and Participatory Drought Planning and Management in the Jucar River Basin, Spain

The mostly semi‐arid climate characteristics of the Jucar River Basin District (JRBD), in Spain, together with high water exploitation indexes and high spatial and temporal precipitation variability, place this region among the areas most vulnerable to drought in the Mediterranean and the south of Europe. Historically, stakeholders in the basin have made continuous efforts to adapt to water scarcity and to forecast and mitigate the effects of long droughts. This chapter presents the latest experiences in drought management at the JRBD. The principal drought characteristics of the region and the methodologies used for risk and vulnerability assessment, as well as the effects of mitigation measures, are described. Finally, the chapter shows how the combination of these methods with participatory processes helps develop an effective proactive approach to drought planning and management that has been successful for coping with the last extreme drought episode that occurred in this case study region.