WSP04710

• File Number: 8056
• Description: Drought Preparedness
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 6/1/1997
• Author: Donald Wilhite
• Title: Improving Drought Management in the West
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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COS~!5' '

Integratmg Drought Managemenc and Warer Policy

· Grigg and Vlachos (Drought Water Management: Preparing and
Responding to Drought)

Grigg and Vlachos (1989) analyzed local, State. region (i.e., river basin),
and Federal responses to the droughts of 1986 and 1988 and derived a
series of "next steps" to improve future response efforts. 'rhese steps
emphasized the importance oflearning from previous experiences and
treating drought management as a process rather than a discrete
event. The study stressed the critical role of State Government in
drought management and recommended that States evaluate existing
plans and their effectiveness in responding to recent drought years. It
was suggested that the Federal Government improve the analysis and
integration of drought-related data and information and how this
information is presented to various audiences, Grigg and Vlachos
recommended that existing administrative structures be streamlined
and communication between organizations be improved, This could be
accomplished by a vertical restructuring between levels of government
and a horizontal restructuring to achieve greater integration in water
management. Better information on the origins and patterns of
drought, the interrelationships of natural and human-induced water
shortages, and the implications of climate changes on the frequency
and severity of drought were considered necessary to improve
understanding and decisionmaking. Grigg and Vlachos stressed the
importance of contingency planning and using monitoring techniques
to improve drought management to sustain the natural resource base.
The challenge, in their view, was to make planning and management
more effective within the current administrative and governmental
system,

· Riebsame, Changnon, and Karl (Drought and Natural Resources
Management in the United States: Impacts and Implications of the
1987 to 1989 Drought)

Riebsame et a!. (1991) reviewed the climatology of the 1987 to 1989
drought and evaluated the impacts of and responses to this event.
They concluded that the response effort was seriously deficient. It
should also be noted that most of these deficiencies have been observed
in previous droughts. Several critical issues were identified and
recommendations were proposed to address these problem areas.
These recommendations were to: (1) conduct a postdrought evaluation
oftbe 1987 to 1989 experiences; (2) develop an improved drought watch
system, linking Federal, State, and local agencies; (3) improve the use

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