From 2003 to 2005 a major drought event affected an Eastern portion of Cuba. Particularly in Las Tunas province, the impacts were severe in almost all sectors. Water supply was critical and there was significant economic loss in agriculture. A post-event program of short and long term measures was implemented immediately (e.g. water saving, storage and hydraulic improvement systems).

An assessment of future drought in Las Tunas province in Cuba is presented in this case study. The study was conducted using the CARiDRO tool and the estimates of SPI and SPEI drought indexes were used to investigate how frequent drought events in Las Tunas will become, particularly those with similar features to the event that occurred during 2003-2005. Results indicate that this kind of climate extreme event will become more frequent and intense over the coming decades, reducing the water availability by a combination of a reduction in precipitation and increase in water losses due to evaporation. These findings highlight the relevance of the existing measures to reduce the negative impacts of drought, particularly those related with water management.

This short study investigates if future drought events in Las Tunas (characterized by 4 and 6 months with moderate and severe meteorological and agriculture drought) will be more or less frequent in the future, and explores questions such as: Are enough the implemented measures so far to respond to more frequent drought like 2003-2005 in Las Tunas?

Picture: CSIRO