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<br />. <br /> <br />n,~ ':' ~!...) <br />"v ...,J<....'-'..;. <br /> <br />2.0 POL ICY MAN AGE MEN T <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Policy management, as it will be used here, refers to a strategic function <br />involving goal-setting, needs assessment, planning, and resource allocation, <br />all ofl which are performed on an interjurisdictiona1 and interinstitutional <br />basis. Within the framework of the Colorado drought coordination effort, <br />po 1 icy management occurred on the di st i nct ly separate state and intrastate <br />regional levels. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2.1 THE EAR L Y R 0 LEO F THE G 0 V ERN 0 R <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The earliest, most basic decisions regarding the need for a Statewide <br />drought response organization rested with Governor Lamm. Upon consultation with <br />the USDA/ASCS State Emergency Board on December 28, 1976, the Governor requested <br />Secretarial and Presidential Emergency Declarations of 16 Colorado counties as <br />agricultural disaster areas. The Governor's request was predicated upon an ASCS <br />report that showed significant crop and livestock losses in the counties for <br />which the Declaration requests were made. Furthermore, the reduced precipita- <br />tion and mountain snowpack which had plagued the State during the early winter <br />indicated that problems related to the lack of moisture might persist on a <br />larger scale. <br /> <br />Within a week after requesting Emergency Declarations, the Governor held <br />two significant meetings--one with his cabinet and one with his Advisory Council <br />on Science and Technology, which includes scientists and administrators whose <br />expert i se 1 ay in areas pertinent to drought response. The meet i ngs were <br />significant in building the agenda and the consensus for subsequent pOlicy and <br />program decisions on the drought. The overriding policy issue in both meetings <br />was to determine whether the lack of winter precipitation constituted a drought <br />situation for which mitigative programs needed to be undertaken. Over the <br />course of the two meetings, it was decided that a drought crisis did exist which <br />merited at least some initial planning and program directives. The January 19, <br />1977, cabinet meeting ended with the establishment of some basic groundwork upon <br />which to build a drought response network. The Division of Disaster Emergency <br />Services (DODES) of the Department of Military Affairs was charged with identi- <br />fying the probable impacts of drought in Colorado and assessing the capabilities <br />of State agencies to address those probable impacts. The use of weather <br />modification (cloud-seeding) was also considered as a means to quickly augment <br />the mountain snowpack. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />During the meeting with his Advisory Council on Science and Technology <br />three days later, the Governor and council members further explored the <br />feasibility and risks of using weather modification. Due to the lack of <br /> <br />lphi1ip M. Burgess, "Capacity Building and the Elements of Public <br />Management," The Public Administration Review, December 1975, p. 10. <br /> <br />23 <br />