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<br />~"'-4jl"\~6 <br />',,,.1 ~, v '.... ~. <br /> <br />Briefly stated, the focus of the Front Range Water Policy was water <br />conservati on. The primary methodo logy espolJsed in the pol icy was meteri ng. The <br />proposed target areas were the rapidly developing portions of the State that lie <br />in a 200-mile strip on the plains just east of the Rockies. The State Orought <br />Coordinator went to some length to informally test the feasibility of eventually <br />implementing the policy. He surveyed a number of Front Range cities to assess <br />the present extent of metering and future plans for it. A copy of the policy <br />proposal was also distributed to the Front Range regions where the proposal was <br />reviewed by regional drought coordinators, their technical committees, and the <br />COG governing boards. Reactions appeared to be favorable. <br /> <br />Ultimately, the State Drought Council refused to take a position on the <br />Front Range Water Po 1 icy. The reasons for its refusa 1 are diffi r.u It to <br />pinpoint. Possibly, the Drought Council membership, a small, bipartisan group, <br />did not deem the Drought Council an appropriate forum from which to take a stand <br />upon the controversial metering issue. Their reasons are not as important as <br />the cogent point here: that there were, in fact, limits to the extent of OSDC <br />policy formulation capabilities and to the extent of the Drought Council's <br />policy formulation interests. <br /> <br />3.2.2 PROGRAM PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION <br /> <br />After program initiatives had been developed by the Governor's staff, the <br />Drought Council, or the OSDC staff itself, it became the responsibility of the <br />OSDC to administer their planning and implementation in cooperation with <br />appropriate State and regional management entities. OSDC activities in this <br />regard may be categorized in three ways: <br /> <br />. coordinating the implementation of progy'ams funded by the State <br />Drought Council; <br /> <br />. coordinating and overseeing the regional implementation of programs <br />which were either contractually mandated or encouraged by the State; <br />and <br /> <br />. developing program and project initiatives deemed necessary for <br />drought mit i gat ion, and encouraging appropri ate State agenci es to <br />undertake their development and/or implementation. <br /> <br />With the exception of those substate and independent agencies working under <br />contract to the State, relatively few actors within the drought response <br />framework were actually mandated (either by legislation ~, executive order) to <br />undertake drought-related mitigation activities. Accordingly, there was a <br />great deal of reliance upon the abilities of OSDC personnel in promoting <br />programs and prompting action, especially within substate regions and State <br />agencies. Undoubtedly OSDC capacity to promote and implement programs was <br />augmented by the credibility associated with its placement in the Governor's <br />Office and, commensurately, the Governor's direct support of many of its <br />mitigation activities. The OSDC role was probably enhanced also by the <br /> <br />45 <br />