The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) was used as anindicator of climatic conditions relevant to water scarcity relatedtendencies (Table 2). The PDSI measures the departure of the mois-ture supply from average conditions and calculates precipitationdeficit at specific locations (Palmer, 1965). It is based on a supply-and-demand model of soil moisture based on precipitation andtemperature data. The PDSI is used as a drought-monitoring tooland