While human civilization has been able to flourish under some extremely harsh conditions, it tends to flounder if it lacks one simple but vital resource: water. Our complex civilization hinges upon our access to water—for drinking, industry, and agriculture.

Droughts are one of the biggest threats to civilization, both in the past and today, while their causes may seem simple on the surface – a lack of water – their underlying causes and solutions are complicated.

The American Red cross identifies four main types of doughts: meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socioeconomic. Meteorological droughts are caused by less than typical rainfall. Agricultural droughts are when moisture is present but not ample enough for agriculture and crops. Hydrological droughts are when surface and groundwater levels are below normal. Finally, socioeconomic droughts are when water supply doesn't meet demand, or when water is present but cannot reach all of the people who need it, often leading to only the wealthy being able to afford potable water.

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These four different types of droughts require significantly different approaches to solve and prevent, all with one end goal — supplying enough water for society.

By examining the causes of these droughts, we can begin to find different solutions for preventing and managing drought risk.

Drought-preventative water fixtures

For domestic users, the major uses of water are for bathing and washing or both people and clothing. While agricultural and industrial water use vastly overshadows domestic use, there can still be a significant amount of waste that occurs within households and businesses, and particularly in the pipes supplying households and businesses.

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Water-saving fixtures are commonly used in showerheads, toilets, and sinks for household use, but water use in public restrooms often ends up being overlooked. The Sloan Valve company along with Falcon Waterfree technologies actually came up with a solution to prevent urinals from utilizing waters in public restrooms. They created a replaceable Velocity cartridge which eliminates the need for water usage for urinals, all the while eliminating smells and carrying away all the liquid.

It may not be the most glamorous, but the road to a drought-free future starts with tackling even the most minute problems.

The real wastage in domestic supply; however, comes from leaks in the supply pipes. Many of these go unrepaired for extensive periods of time, causing a lot of wastage.

Smart watering systems

Keeping in trend with household and business water use, watering of landscaping and lawns has become common practice in most cities. This is largely done for aesthetic appeal, and it can be a big source of wasted water. Normally this isn't a concern for cities that aren't at risk of drought, but measures can still be taken to be mindful of the water that is used for these purposes.

Sprinkler systems today are far more advanced than their rudimentary ancestors, and some are now also connected to computers and monitoring systems. For example, the Droplet Smart sprinkler uses a connected app so that it only waters the plants that need water.

7 Solutions and Tools to Prevent Droughts and Minimize Their Risks

Source: Droplet Sprinker

It functions as a simple hose attachment and channels the water through the nozzle only to the plants that need water. The company claims that using the device on all your landscaping watering can reduce your water usage by 90% each year, reducing a massive amount of water waste, although it is intended for domestic use rather than large-scale commercial use.

US drought monitor

The applications we've covered so far have been relatively small scale. But monitoring water trends on a macro scale is one of the most effective ways to prevent droughts actually. The United States uses something called the U.S. Drought Monitor, or USDM, which helps track and characterize droughts in different regions throughout the country.

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The USDM is a combined effort between several different regulatory agencies and releases reports each week to track droughts and water usage.

The NOAA's National Climatic Data Center helps provide weekly and monthly data points to develop the reports for the USDM, mapping out temperature anomalies, rainfall changes, as well as Palmer Drought Index gauges in areas where drought is occurring to measure how intense the drought it.

7 Solutions and Tools to Prevent Droughts and Minimize Their Risks

An example of the data that the USDM provides on a weekly and monthly basis. This map, in conjunction with other hydrologic tools, aids scientists and researchers in determining the steps necessary to eliminate drought.

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