Hazard Detail

Drought

Drought means long periods with too little water. In Oakland, that can lead to water stress, higher costs, health impacts, and more wildfire risk.

Medium risk 6/10 priority drought
Personalization

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Current Oakland location: No location selected

Current location
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Hazard pages use your saved address and ZIP first. This override only helps fine-tune guidance for neighborhood context like hills or shoreline.

Location Context

What this page is using

This hazard page is using your saved Oakland location: No location selected.

This page is still grounded in the JSON dataset, but this hazard does not yet have ZIP-specific scoring in the current risk CSV.

What This Means

Why it matters

You may face water restrictions, higher bills, hotter and drier conditions, and added wildfire stress. If your household already struggles with health, water access, or money, drought hits harder.

Realistic Impact

What could happen

Oakland residents could see longer dry periods, tighter outdoor water use rules, higher food costs, and more pressure on water systems. Drought can also set up worse wildfire and heat conditions.

Drought does not usually destroy buildings directly, but it can make daily life harder and more expensive while also making fire and heat risk worse.

Action Steps

Interactive checklist

Drought Preparedness: 0/5 complete

Medium risk
Top Risks

Main dangers

  • Water shortages and restrictions that affect daily life.
  • Higher water and food costs.
  • More wildfire danger during dry periods.
  • Worse health outcomes for people with limited access to drinking water or existing health issues.
  • Damage to habitat, water quality, groundwater, and ecosystems.
Priority Reason

Why this is ranked here

The LHMP ranks drought medium, but it is frequent and affects the entire city. It scores higher for the app because it raises water, cost, health, and wildfire stress at the same time.

Locations

Areas mentioned in the dataset

  • Citywide.
At-Risk Groups

Who may need extra planning

  • Equity Priority Communities.
  • People with greater health problems.
  • People with limited access to drinking water.
  • People facing financial difficulties during rising water and food costs.
History

Historical examples

  • 2020-2023 drought with state proclamations S4697, S5146, and S5371.
  • The plan says the area was included in USDA drought disaster declarations in 9 of the last 14 years.