EGUsphere EGUsphere EGUsphere EGUsphere 2195-9269 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/egusphere-2024-2073 The 2022 Drought Shows the Importance of Preparedness in European Drought Risk Management  Biella Riccardo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0640-5725 1 2 Shyrokaya Anastasiya https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0492-7407 1 2 Pechlivanidis Ilias https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3416-317X 3 Cid Daniela https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4495-8643 4 Llasat Maria Carmen https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8720-4193 5 6 Wens Marthe https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0133-5924 7 Lam Marleen https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9787-7228 8 Stenfors Elin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4413-0312 1 2 Sutanto Samuel https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4903-6445 9 Ridolfi Elena https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4714-2511 10 Ceola Serena https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1757-509X 11 Alencar Pedro 12 Di Baldassarre Giuliano https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8180-4996 1 2 Ionita Monica https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8240-4380 13 14 de Brito Mariana Madruga https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4191-1647 15 McGrane Scott J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5277-1347 16 17 Moccia Benedetta 10 Nagavciuc Viorica https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1111-9616 13 14 Russo Fabio 10 Krakovska Svitlana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9972-0937 18 19 Todorovic Andrijana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1001-9739 20 Tootoonchi Faranak https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5262-1712 21 Trambauer Patricia 22 Vignola Raffaele 9 Teutschbein Claudia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3344-2468 1 2 Department of Earth Sciences (LUVAL), Uppsala University, Geocentrum, Villavägen 16, 752 36 Uppsala Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science (CNDS), Villavägen 16, 752 36 Uppsala Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping, Sweden Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain Department of Applied Physics, University of Barcelona, Spain IdRA, Water Research Institut, University of Barcelona, Spain Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands Water Resources Management (WRM), Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Wageningen, the Netherland Earth Systems and Global Change Group, Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, 00184 Roma Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Chair of Ecohydrology, Technical University of Berlin, Germany Paleoclimate Dynamics Group, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany Forest Biometrics Laboratory – Faculty of Forestry, "Ștefan cel Mare" University of Suceava, Universității street, no.13, 720229, Suceava, România Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany Department of Economics, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Applied Physics Department, Stanford University, CA, USA Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine National Antarctic Scientific Center, Kyiv, Ukraine University of Belgrade, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering Department of crop production ecology, Swedish university of agricultural sciences, Uppsala, Sweden Deltares, The Netherlands 02 09 2024 2024 1 40 Copyright: © 2024 Riccardo Biella et al. 2024 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2024/egusphere-2024-2073/ The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2024/egusphere-2024-2073/egusphere-2024-2073.pdf

Droughts in Europe are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, with the 2022 drought surpassing previous records and causing widespread socio-economic impacts. This study employs a Europe-wide survey that integrates data from 481 respondents from 30 European countries, involved in the management of the 2022 European drought, together with hydroclimatic data (i.e., Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index; SPEI), to provide a holistic assessment of the effect of drought preparedness on response effectiveness and timeliness during the 2022 drought through statistical methods. It specifically assesses the role of forecasting systems and Drought Management Plans (DMPs) in improving preparedness and in facilitating more effective and timely responses. Additionally, the study investigates how drought management practices and awareness have evolved as a consequence of the 2018 European drought and how recent experiences shape water managers&rsquo; perceptions. The findings emphasize the urgent need for a standardized, continent-wide drought risk management coordination to address the multifaceted nature of drought risk by integrating climatic and societal factors, and advocates for a Drought Directive as a means to achieve it. This research aims to inform policy development towards sustainable and holistic drought risk management, highlighting the crucial roles of preparedness, awareness, and adaptive strategies in mitigating future drought impacts.</p> <p>This study and its companion paper <em>The 2022 Drought Needs to be a Turning Point for European Drought Risk Management</em> are the result of a study carried out by the Drought in the Anthropocene (DitA) network.