The paper presents the preliminary results of a research initiated to elucidate a historical perspective of drought events to be taken as a basis for outlining future drought planning horizons. The research falls in the framework of the strategies to combat land degradation in Mediterranean areas. The work includes the application of the standardized precipitation index SPI (McKee et al., 1993, 1995), to a southern Italian region (Apulia). In particular, the magnitude, duration, frequency, location, and timing of the drought events are shown referring to an observation period of 80 years. The Apulia region shares with the arid and semi-arid Mediterranean countries, similar problems and peculiar characteristics of importance to the analisys of drought disasters. Therefore, the remarks inferred from the obtained results could be meaningful to the common solution aimed at planning the use of available water resources, which is particularly crucial in the agricultural sector.