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This paper explores the relationship between scientific operationalizations of drought and the politics of water management during times of drought. Drawing on a case study of the 2007–09 drought in Georgia in the southeastern United States, this paper examines how multiple ways of knowing drought were produced, circulated, and utilized by stakeholders. Moreover, this paper explores the policy implications of these multiple ways of knowing drought. Data were drawn from archival research, direct observation, and semistructured interviews with members of the green industry (self-identified members of the urban agricultural sector); state environmental regulators; and local governmental officials. Data were analyzed to examine the interplay between science and politics. This paper highlights the intersections of drought management policy and 1) scale and operationalization of drought; 2) how stakeholders know drought; and 3) societal context within which knowledge of drought is produced, circulated, and utilized. This research demonstrates how stakeholders can leverage the complexity of drought to pursue their political goals and change the way water is managed during times of drought. Even in instances where there are different knowledges of drought, stakeholders can still change the societal context, as the green industry did in Georgia in 2009. This paper argues that scientists and policymakers who work on drought management need to consider how knowledges of drought are coconstituted through interactions between science, nature, and society.

This article represents the first time that a rigorous evaluation of Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) current definition of environmental justice has been undertaken. This is a matter of some significance. Definitions not only reflect the historical understanding of an issue at the moment of formulation but can also affect practice. EPA's 30-year-old definition was actually formulated when its office had the ''environmental equity'' moniker. Hence, this article addresses the distinctions between equity and justice when examining the definition. In addition, it will speak of the definition's scope. This article concludes with suggested enhancements to the current definition and proposes a new working definition.