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<br />n"',.r:'''~5 <br />~ ~ ....J .J .) <br /> <br />Furthermore, the drought council played a direct role in policy-making. In <br />one instance it resolved to approach the State for an expansion of the State <br />weather modification program to include its region. State weather modification <br />experts later met with the drought council to explain that the particular <br />climatological conditions in the area were not conducive to a weather modifica- <br />t i on program. In another instance the counci 1 made the deci s i on not to <br />undertake a reg iona 1 fire suppress ion survey requested by the State. The <br />decision was based upon the belief that until municipal water systems were in <br />optimum condition there was no reason to perform a fire suppression survey. <br /> <br />3.1.3.4 SUi:l11ary <br /> <br />To conc lude, there was vari at ion in pol i cy management at the regiona 1 <br />level. In most cases, responsive technical advisory committees were a boon to <br />policy-making in an advisory mode. !n all but two instances, final poliCY <br />decisions remained the prerogative of established power structures within the <br />region. The characteristics common to the two technical advisory committees <br />which did exercise high degrees of policy formulation were that membership in- <br />cluded the existing power structure within the region and therefore exercised a <br />degree of independence and flexibility in policy and program implementation <br />activities. <br /> <br />3.2 S TAT E D R 0 UGH T MAN AGE MEN T: A N <br />OVERVIEW OF OSDC ROLES AND FUNCTIONS <br /> <br />The Governor appointed the State Drought Coordinator on March 1, 1977. <br />Soon afterward, the Office of the State Drought Coordinator (OSDC) was estab- <br />lished in the natural resources cluster of the Governor's Office. The natural <br />resources cluster was headed by the Governor's Assistant for Natural Resources, <br />who, during the early stages of the State drought response program, was deeply <br />involved in the formulation of drought policy. The proximity of the State <br />Drought Coordi nator to what was essent i a lly the hub of early drought pol icy <br />formulation facilitated the expedient translation of policy into action. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Governor's Assistant for Natural Resources remained directly involved <br />in drought management operations until the early summer of 1977. On July 10, <br />1977, about the time the Governor's assistant began to reduce his drought role, <br />the State Legislature approved an appropriation of $46,132 (in HB 1723) to the <br />Governor's Office for allocation to the OSDC. A short tim~ later, in July of <br />1977, the Governor's Office received a $253,977 technic~~ assistance grant from <br />the' Economic Development Administration (EDA), part of wh'jch went toward <br />financing OSDC staff. Later in July, an assistant to the State Drought <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />43 <br />