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<br />presence, and thus implicit support, of Cabinet members and legislative leaders <br />on the State Drought Council. Nevertheless, although the DSDC had "clout by <br />assoc i at i on" over the imp 1 ementat ion of drought programs, its authority was also <br />very tangibly limited. <br /> <br />3.2.3 REGIONAL PROGRAM MDNITORING <br /> <br />The contractually mandated reporting requirements constituted the primary <br />facet of the ability of the OSDC to monitor regional drought mitigation and <br />relief activities. Each regional drought coordinator was required to submit <br />monthly reports to the OSDC pertaining to: <br /> <br />. regional drought severity and impact; <br /> <br />. the status of municipal and individual applications to federal <br />agencies for drought assistar,ce in terms of the number of applications <br />made and the number accepted, rejected, or in process; <br /> <br />. the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of the activities and <br />programs of local federal offices; <br /> <br />. the status of current programs and projects under the auspices of the <br />regional drought coordinator which are underway in the region in terms <br />of the proportion of total man-hours devoted to each project and its <br />proximity to completion; and <br /> <br />. the delineation of drought activities planned for the future. <br /> <br />Field trips constituted another element of the OSDC monitoring procedure. <br />A visit to a regional drought coordination office improved the ability of OSDC <br />staff to assess the viability and quality of a region's program. The sole <br />purpose of the field trips was not simply to "spy," however. The field trips <br />contributed to the firsthand knowledge of the problems and conditions specific <br />to each region, and thus contributed to the OSDC's capacity for effective <br />management. Furthermore, the presence of OSDC staff in a particular region <br />often generated media coverage which enhanced the visibility of the region's <br />drought program. <br /> <br />3.2.4 INFORMATION NETWORKING <br /> <br />B~ virtue of its existence at the hub of the Colorado drought response <br />mechanlsm, a large portion of OSDC staff time was devoted to information- <br />networking, coordination, and reporting. The characteristics of its multi- <br />jurisdictional interface are best summarized as follows: <br /> <br />. established linkage between regional and State drought managers and <br />federal agency administrators; <br /> <br />46 <br />