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Improving Drought Management rn the West: The Role of Mitigation and Preparedness constructed; eligibility of applicants; and interest rates, terms, and repayment requirements for loans." No action was taken on these recommendations, . Wilhite, Rosenberg, and Glantz (Government Response to Drought in the United States: Lessons from the Mid,1970s) Wilhite et a\. (1986) confirmed the GAO findings and also concluded that the decision making process for determining eligibility for drought assistance was seriously flawed. For example, the designation and revocation process for determining eligibility for the more than $5 billion of disaster relief expended in 1976-77 was confusing and was not based on consistent, established criteria, In total, 16 Federal agencies administered 40 separate assistance programs in 1976-77. Wilhite et a\. (1986) concluded, based on lessons learned during the 1976-77 response effort, that a more effective Federal response effort must address four basic issues. First, information on drought severity must be provided to decisionmakers and other users in a more timely manner. This requires better coordination of data collection efforts between Federal agencies, information sharing between and within levels of government, and improved delivery systems. Second, impact assessment procedures must be more reliable and timely. Better indices are required to capture the severity of drought, particularly in the spring planting period. Improved estimates of drought impact on yield would help trigger assistance to the stricken area; improved impact estimates are also important in other sectors such as fire protection, transportation, energy, and recreation and tourism. Third, objective and timely designation (and revocation) procedures are necessary to target assistance to drought areas. Decisions on drought disaster designations during 1977 were based largely on the Palmer Drought Severity Index, an index that is not appropriate for this application (Wilhite et aI., 1986; Alley, 1984). Fourth, disaster programs must be more efficiently administered, and programs must match specific regional needs. In other words, the "one size fits all" approach of Federal drought assistance was not considered to be effective in addressing the needs of regions with different resource management issues. It was concluded that a national drought plan would help coordinate the activities of the Federal Government in responding to the effects of future droughts. It was also suggested that State Government and regional organizations should playa more active role in drought management and that those activities be coordinated between levels of government. 28