Drought events will become more frequent and severe in the future, posing an increasing threat to Switzerland. Due to the current lack of experience in dealing with severe droughts in Switzerland, Postulate 22.3007 calls for a review of the civil protection system's capabilities in responding to climate-related natural hazards such as drought. The resulting capability analysis recommends conducting joint exercises.

To review the capacity of the Swiss civil protection service to cope with a future multi-year drought event, a tabletop exercise was conducted in November 2024 with members of the civil protection partner organizations. They were exposed to hypothetical but realistic extreme drought scenarios provided by the WSL Extremes Research Program and the Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich. This joint exercise allowed an analysis of current structures, processes, and resources in anticipation of future extreme events. 

In November 2024, a drought simulation exercise was conducted for the first time with civil protection partners. Based on four cantonal drought scenarios, the interdisciplinary teams analyzed the available and additional resources needed to manage a drought lasting one and a half years in Switzerland. The exercise revealed that while civil protection is well-prepared in terms of personnel, equipment, and structure, the necessary channels and platforms for inter-cantonal cooperation and knowledge exchange still need improvement.
 

Read More

'Wie reagieren auf eine langanhaltende Trockenheit?'
Vincenz Bischof und André Baur. Magazin BABS 24/25. 1 Mai 2025.

Der vollständige Artikel von Bjoernsen et al., 2025.
Astrid Björnsen, Vincenz Bischof, André Baur, und Jurgena Kamberaj (2025). In A. Björnsen (Ed.), WSL Berichte: Vol. 164. Extremes (pp. 73-86).