The objective of this project is to create a decision-support toolkit to guide planning and resource use under drought conditions. This toolkit will improve operations and resource management at drought-prone installations in the southwestern United States by identifying drought-related risks and developing effective response strategies. Using a co-production approach that brings together scientists and DoW personnel, the project will create a decision-support toolkit to guide planning and resource use under drought conditions. The toolkit will combine scientific data with on-the-ground input to assess vulnerable assets and deliver practical tools for improved planning, risk assessment, and long-term resilience. 

The project team will collaborate closely with installation staff to ensure that project outputs are directly applicable to drought-informed management decisions, broadly accessible across the DoW, and aligned with related initiatives to enhance impact and avoid redundancy. This coordination will support the development of tools and findings that are operationally relevant, scalable, and integrated with ongoing resilience planning efforts at drought-vulnerable installations in the southwestern United States. 

The project includes five technical objectives: (1) conduct in-depth stakeholder engagement with installation managers to map operational and resource management frameworks and build trust for sustained collaboration; (2) compile and synthesize existing atmospheric, hydrological, and ecological data to characterize drought conditions affecting the region; (3) identify key management challenges and decision points under representative drought scenarios; and (4) evaluate the capacity of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to deliver sustained, decision-relevant science that supports long-term DoW resource management and operational resilience. 

This effort will improve DoW resource prioritization, safeguard critical infrastructure, personnel, and operations, and support continuity of operations during drought events. Through collaboration with DoW partners, the project will build long-term institutional capacity for evidence-based decision-making and scenario planning across southwestern U.S. installations. The project will advance the ability to identify and characterize assets at risk from drought and related hazards, such as water shortages, increased wildfire risk, and ecosystem degradation. This will enable more proactive mitigation measures for installations, strengthening adaptive management strategies.