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The state of disrepair that characterized many water systems in Colorado ran contrary to the basic drought management objective of making efficient use of short water supp 1 i es. A 1 arge amount of State and federal monies was allocated to municipalities for water system repairs and improvements. With monies made available by the Carter "Drought Package," the Economic Development Administration (EOA) administered about $4.6 million in loans and grants for water system improvements in municipalities whose populations were more than 10 000. Generally, the EDA grants and loans were aimed at improving water qu~lity and water use efficiency. Addressing problems with water line and reservoir leakage, water intake and recovery systems, and treatment capacity and pumping stations, characterized most of the EDA~funded projects in Colorado. Over 50 similar pT'Oj~cts in municipalities of under 10,000 were funded with about $34.4 million in loans and grants from FmHA. The Four Corners Regional Commission supplemented 12 water projects, whose basic funding came from FmHA or EDA, with just over $1 million in grants. Over 60 Colorado communities received assistance for water system im- provements during 1977 and early 1978. The drought which highlighted numerous water system problems resulted in action which will render those systems less susceptible to similar water shortage crises in the future. 1.3 I N T E R S TAT ERE G ION A L RES P 0 N S E 1.3.1 WESTERN REGIONAL DROUGHT ACTION TASK FORCE As the severity of the drought became more evident during the winter months of 1977, western leaders undertook a coordinated regional effort aimed at producing a strong federal response to western drought needs. It appeared during those winter months that Federal policy toward the drought would be swayed largely by the view that the drought would not significantly disrupt the normal business cycle~ It thus became incumbent upon the states to show Federal policy makers that expected impacts could in fact be extreme and, at the very least, exceed most states' capacities to respond adequately. On February 20, 1977, 18 states--including the Governors of 14 western states, along with four Governor's representatives--met in Denver with Interior Secretary Andrus to di scuss the need for a focused federal drought re 1 ief program and the placement of drought relief authority in the White House. The meeting produced the immediate result of the President's appointment of his Cabinet Secretary and Assistant for Intergovernmental Relations as the Federal Drought Coordinator on February 22. Simultaneously, under the direction of the Governor, working through the Western Governors' Task Force on Regional Policy Management (now called WESTPO), the decision was made to establish a 21-state Western Regional Drought Action Task Force (WRADTF). Meeting in Washington, D.C., on February 27 in conjunction with the winter meeting of the National Governors' Conference, the WRDATF Governors agreed to appoint a state drought coordinator in each state to serve as Governors' alternates on the WRDATF; to staff the WRDATF through the Western States ~'Jate;- Council (WSWC) and the Inst itute for Pol icy Research (IPR); and to calla meet ing of the WRDATF alternates to shape a multistate action plan for drought mitigation and relief. 20