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<br />3.2 State Drought Management: An Overview of the Roles and <br />Functions of the Office of the State Drought Coordinator (OSDC) <br /> <br />. The OSDC provided policy guidance to the Governor and the State <br />Drought Council. <br /> <br />. The OSDC administered the planning and implementation of State and <br />substate-1eve1 drought mitigation programs. <br /> <br />. The OSDC monitored the operations of State, federal, and substate- <br />level drought mitigation and relief programs. <br /> <br />. The OSDC established linkages and performed appropriate <br />information-networking among State, federal, and substate drought <br />management entities. <br /> <br />3.3 The Essential Elements of Drought Program Activity <br /> <br />. Eight program areas were devised by State administrators to provide <br />the basic guidelines within which drought mitigation activities <br />wou 1 d occur. The program areas were dev i sed to f ac i 1 i tate an <br />optimum mix of State and regional drought management capabilities. <br />Task forces were developed at the State level to administer program <br />operations within each program area. Regional drought management <br />structures were relied upon to administer and carry out functional <br />activities as appropriate at the substate levels. Brief <br />descriptions of each of the eight program areas follow: <br /> <br />. The "public awareness" program area encompassed activities aimed at <br />the dissemination of information pertinent to drought conditions, <br />federal assistance programs, and water conservation. <br /> <br />. The "agricultural credit" program area was developed to assess <br />agricultural credit needs and credit availability to assist farmers <br />and ranchers in obtaining credit and/or federal assistance. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. The "agricultural conservation" program area included activities <br />designed to promote efficient on-farm soil and water use <br />techniques. <br /> <br />. The "water supply and demand" program area focused on the identifi- <br />cation and the projection of probable water shortages. <br /> <br />. The "municipal water availability and quality" program area encom- <br />passed activities aimed at determining the state of repair of <br />municipal water systems. <br /> <br />. The "fire suppression" program area was developed to augment State <br />and local capacities to address the increased drought-induced <br />potential of fire in municipal, rural, and forested areas. <br /> <br />4 <br />