Preparing for future drought impacts may require communities to adopt mitigation actions through local planning processes. Local planners may prefer to address drought through water and hazard plans, but land use plans and standalone plans may also be important tools for effective mitigation where drought poses a threat. Some of the barriers that planners face may be reduced through experience and communication with water and hazard planners, as well as their states’ engagement in statewide drought mitigation plans.

By drawing on local planners’ perspectives, the authors provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors contributing to and impeding efforts to address drought through planning at the local level. Drought threat was a primary driver of current and future drought planning efforts. State mandates, state mitigation plans, and the capacity of the jurisdiction’s population also played roles in supporting specific planning strategies. Planners’ perceptions of barriers also contributed to the likelihood of future drought planning efforts. The findings that planners’ barrier perceptions can be ameliorated through experience, communication with water and hazard planners, and state mitigation plans provide guidance for local planners and states.

For planners, this study offers insight into potential avenues for incorporating drought into planning and also reinforces the importance of communication and collaboration with other planning specialties. For states, the results offer evidence of a benefit of statewide drought mitigation planning.

Future climate change and water stress may lead communities not currently threatened by drought to consider drought planning. Planners’ amenability to collaboration with water managers and hazard planners is a positive finding for addressing these future needs. Planners expressed ambivalence in addressing drought in local jurisdiction plans or standalone plans, yet these strategies may be needed if drought is a sufficient threat. In some cases, mitigation strategies may be most appropriately addressed in land use plans or standalone drought plans, as well as integrated with water and hazard plans. Community-wide investigation of local drought impacts will help planners understand the potential threat of drought and how those can be minimized by integrating drought into appropriate plans and policies.