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'1'-:':) '/S ".....; V J ... I February 15 meeting of the Drought Council contained two facets: first, the appointment by the Governor of a State Drought Coordinator to work out of the Governor's Office and coordinate the program activities of the State's drought response; second, the establishment of regional drought coordinators and drought counc i1 s set up along the mult icounty gu ide 1 i nes of the State I s 13 p 1 anni ng and management di stri cts. The plan was presented to the Drought Council for additional comment and consultation by the membership. Despite the conflicting opinions expressed at the meeting regarding the drought management plan, it was eventually implemented in the form in which it was presented to the Counci 1. The Council was not mandated to overturn any of the pol icies or programs advocated by the Governor. Its purpose was strictly advisory but, in fact, many of the Governor's policy and program decisions were based upon Drought Council recommendations. The following summary of Drought Council actions illustrates more specifically the areas in which it provided advisory support to the Governor: , I . Considered and supported a Statewide water conservation campaign aimed at an overall consumption reduction of 10 percent; activities included the publication and distribution of water conservation pamph lets by the Colorado State Uni vers i ty Extens ion Serv i ce for home consumers and agriculturists. . Served as a focal point for State agency coordination of drought response, wherein agency constituent drought needs were assessed and departmental drought response inventories were compiled. . Provided advice on the organization of a State Drou9ht Coordination Program which eventually resulted in the appointment of a State Drought Coordinator and the development of an intrastate regional drought coordination mechanism. , . Participated in the development of a task force approach to drought management based upon eight functional problem areas of drought that needed to be addressed: water supply and demand, domestic water supplies, economic modeling, fire suppression, agricultural credit, agricultural conservation, pub1 ic awareness and weather modification. . Considered and recommended the implementation of a winter weather modification program aimed at augmenting mountain snowpack. . Monitored and provided advice on the preparation of a budget sent tc the State Legislature requesting drought management funds. On March 31, 1977, Governor Lamm, with the support of the Drought Council, sent a letter to the Colorado General Assembly describing the drought situation in the State and requesting an appropriation of $533,491 for the implementation of the State Drought Management Program. (The letter and budget request have 25