Improving the Federal Response to Western Drought: Five Areas for Reform

All drought operations and planning in the West rely heavily on water information and forecasts provided by federal agencies. The federal government should preserve and enhance existing hydrologic and meteorologic data networks hit by budget cuts and modernize the technology used for forecasting. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCalifornia journal of politics and policy Vol. 8; no. 3; p. 0_1
Main Authors Mount, Jeffrey, Hanak, Ellen, Chappelle, Caitrin, Colby, Bonnie, Frank, Richard, Gartrell, Greg, Gray, Brian, Kenney, Douglas, Lund, Jay, Moyle, Peter, Szeptycki, Leon
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley 01.07.2016
Subjects
Agriculture
Budgets
Copyright
Drought
Federal government
Government agencies
Irrigation
Modernization
Precipitation
Public policy
Rain
Scholarly publishing
Water rights
Water shortages
Water supply
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Summary:All drought operations and planning in the West rely heavily on water information and forecasts provided by federal agencies. The federal government should preserve and enhance existing hydrologic and meteorologic data networks hit by budget cuts and modernize the technology used for forecasting. This may require rebalancing budget allocations for research, observation, and forecasting. This report begins with a spotlight on the current western drought followed by a road map of the various federal roles that touch on western water management and identifies a series of modest, pragmatic federal actions that can help western states prepare for droughts and better manage emergencies when they occur.
ISSN:2194-6132
1944-4370
DOI:10.5070/P2cjpp8331897