DROUGHT AND WATER-SUPPLY MANAGEMENT - ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Managing drought during the 1980s taught that it is essential to defin e the roles of local, state, and federal governments. Roles are still being worked out, especially in the cross-cutting areas of planning an d coordination. Local government, on the firing line, faces questions about levels of risk and drought response plans. State government has five roles: planning, coordination, data and technical assistance, eme rgency aid, and regulatory actions (mainly restricting water use). The federal government has roles in operation of federal reservoirs, in c oordination, and in data management. Gaining appreciation for the comp lexity of drought and for the need for coordinated action requires fur ther improvement. The solution to drought problems in better water res ources management through a continuing process, not a prescription to be abandoned when a drought is over. The nation is still looking for t he correct allocation of roles in this process. Lessons learned from r ecent droughts can improve the process.