Country “cannot afford to wait any longer” for drought preparedness law, Western governors tell congressional appropriators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22, 2004

Contact: Shaun McGrath or Karen Deike (303) 623-9378

DENVER -- Western Governors, saying the country “cannot afford to wait any longer,” have urged congressional appropriators working on emergency drought relief to also include a proactive, drought preparedness measure that could reduce future spending.

The letter was signed by the Western Governors' Association’s lead governors for drought: Govs. Mike Johanns (Neb.), Bill Richardson (N.M.), Mike Rounds (S.D.) and Judy Martz (Mont.). They said members of the conference committee working on homeland security appropriations should consider including provisions of the National Drought Preparedness Act. The appropriations measure currently provides $3 billion for drought-related crop and livestock losses. The governors called this emergency spending “just the tip of the iceberg.”

“It does not include significant other costs caused by the drought, such as an increase in the number and intensity of wildfires, and a reduction in the availability of low-cost power from hydroelectric dams,” the governors said. “Billions of dollars are being spent every year to deal with the impacts of drought, yet we have no national policy in place to proactively plan for and mitigate the impacts of drought.”

The proposed drought preparedness measure would establish a National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), a vastly improved drought monitoring and forecasting system.

“As with other acts of nature, preparation can be the key to lessening the impacts of drought,” the governors said. “Tools like NIDIS can be used to alert us to potential drought situations early enough to allow us to make better mitigation decisions. The NIDIS will provide water users across the board – farmers, ranchers, tribes, land managers, business owners, recreationalists, wildlife managers, and decision makers at all levels of government – with the ability to assess their drought risk in real time, before the onset, and during drought.”

The legislation would also create a National Drought Council to coordinate and integrate federal drought assistance programs. The advantage of this one-stop-shopping approach is it would encourage drought preparedness planning at all levels of government, and as droughts emerge, would focus federal funding on the implementation of the preparedness plans to proactively minimize the drought’s impacts.

“Ultimately, we believe that the enactment of the Drought Preparedness Act would move the country toward a proactive approach that will minimize the damage caused by future droughts, thereby saving taxpayers money,” the governors concluded, noting that the measure has been endorsed by national groups representing agriculture, forestery, water managers and emergency managers.

Drought Fact Sheet