🌵 Drought Risk in Georgia

Drought Risk in Georgia

The drought risk indicator measures how frequently and severely a country is affected by prolonged water scarcity — for agriculture, drinking water supply and ecosystems. With a raw risk value of 32/100 on the underlying scale (lower = higher risk) and an inversely mapped safety score of 68/100, global rank {{RANK}} of {{TOTAL}} countries, Georgia sits in a moderately advantaged position globally. But this average conceals a strong geographic split within the country: western Georgia is one of the wettest regions in Europe, while eastern Georgia faces increasingly severe summer drought.

Georgia's Two Faces: Wet West, Dry East

Georgia's climate is bisected by the Likhi (Surami) mountain range running north-south:

• West Georgia (Adjara, Guria, Imereti, Racha, Mingrelia): Subtropical maritime climate; precipitation 1,200–4,500 mm/year. Batumi receives around 2,400 mm annually — extraordinary by European standards. Drought is essentially unknown in these regions.
• East Georgia (Kartli, Kakheti, Javakheti): Continental, semi-arid climate; precipitation 400–800 mm/year, strongly concentrated in spring and autumn. Summers in the Alazani valley can be extremely hot (regularly exceeding 38°C in Kakheti) with weeks without rainfall. Irrigation is essential for agriculture. In drought years, crop failures in grain and viticulture are a real economic risk.

Climate Change: Intensification in the East

Climate projections from the Georgian State Hydrometeorological Department and international partners consistently show: eastern Georgia will face significantly longer and more intense drought periods in the decades ahead. Glacial retreat in the Greater Caucasus threatens long-term river flow reliability — the Alazani, Mtkvari/Kura and Liakhvi rivers are fed partly by glacial meltwater that will decline as glaciers retreat.

For Kakheti's wine industry — Georgia's most internationally significant agricultural export — this is existential: varieties bred over millennia for local conditions face increasingly marginal growing seasons. The 2022 and 2023 growing seasons saw record temperatures with direct impacts on yield quality and volume in some vineyards.

Water Management and Agriculture

Soviet-era irrigation systems across eastern Georgia are ageing and inefficient — with high seepage losses and poor water use efficiency. Modernising these systems is a priority in government and World Bank-funded agricultural development programmes, but progress is slow. Water rights are contested in some areas, particularly around the Mtkvari river basin shared with Armenia (upstream) and Azerbaijan (downstream).

What Expats Should Know

For daily life in Tbilisi, drought is rarely a direct concern — the city's water supply draws on multiple sources including the Zhinvali reservoir. Practical issues arise mainly in very hot summers: Tbilisi city temperatures above 38°C are increasingly normal in July–August, making air conditioning essential in apartments. In rural Kakheti stays during drought years, water supply from private wells can occasionally be limited.

Comparison with Other Countries

• Spain (~40): Considerably higher drought risk, especially in the south
• Turkey (~45): Higher risk, particularly in central and eastern Anatolia
• United Kingdom (~72): Lower drought risk overall; but 2018–2022 revealed growing drought vulnerability even in traditionally wet climates
• Armenia (~35): Higher drought risk than Georgia overall; less rainfall

Summary: A safety score of 68/100 reflects Georgia's moderately good position — largely due to the very wet west of the country. The east faces genuine and growing drought vulnerability that matters for agriculture and long-term water security. For most expats in cities this is background context; for those in agricultural regions of Kakheti it is a concrete operational factor.

This article was created on April 14, 2026