Some have named a drought coordinator and more have designated a lead state agency. A majority have at some time created and utilized a drought response center and defined state agency responsibilities. Only a few states have actually inventoried resources available to respond to drought and established priorities among water uses and needs. Several states have organized task forces to address impacts in specific sectors, such as agriculture or wildfire. A number of states have developed specific action plans for various sectors.
Action plans refer to a list of specific things to do to address various drought-related impacts.
Most states do have some type of public information and water education program that can be used during drought. Unfortunately, during the interval between droughts, response plans usually sit idle and rapidly become outdated. Few states have an ongoing mechanism or forum for state and local coordination and collaboration with federal agencies. Further, there is no national or regional governmental forum dedicated solely to addressing problems related to drought. Many of the lessons from past experience with drought have to be learned repeatedly.