Mitigating
Drought
Overview
of Selected State Drought Plans
Montana
Montana’s drought plan has had an interesting history. The first plan, written in 1985, was revised in 1988. However, in 1991, because of poor responses to droughts in 1985, 1986, and 1988, the Montana state legislature created a permanent drought advisory committee (DAC), chaired by a representative of the governor. One of the tasks established for the committee was to develop and implement a new state drought plan. The current Montana Drought Response Plan was completed by the DAC in 1995.
A unique feature of the current Montana plan is that it recognizes the importance of local actions and outlines guidelines for the formation of local drought advisory committees (LDACs). These local committees, based at the county level, use the same quantitative triggers as the DAC and state agencies. The triggers are values of the Palmer Index and the Surface Water Supply Index.
Montana Drought Response Plan (developed 1985; revised 1988 and 1995)
| Author/lead agency: | Department of Natural Resources and Conservation |
| Primary impacts addressed: | Specific crops and livestock, tourism, energy production, domestic water supplies, wildfire, and fish and wildlife |
Monitoring Component
| Committee responsible: | Drought Advisory Committee |
| Committee chair: | Representative of the Governor |
| Activation of component/monitoring frequency: | At a minimum: on or around the 15th of February and October. More frequently if required. |
| Conditions monitored: | Precipitation, snowpack, streamflow, reservoir levels, fire conditions, soil moisture |
| Indices: | Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI), Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) |
| Triggers: | A combination of either the PDSI or the SWSI Palmer -3.0 to -4.0/SWSI -2.5 to -3.5: Drought “Alert” Palmer less than or equal to -4.0/SWSI less than or equal to -3.5: “Severe” Drought |
Impact Assessment Component
| Activation: | Once a region of the state reaches the “Alert” status, each agency that is a member of the DAC is required to provide a written impact assessment report, along with a response to the DAC |
| Task forces/agencies: | Dryland Farming—Department of Agriculture Livestock Operations—Department of Livestock Irrigation Water Supplies—Several state and federal agencies Municipal and Domestic Water Systems—Department of Environmental Quality Fish and Wildlife—Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Wildfire—Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Public Lands—Several state and federal agencies Energy Production—Several state and federal agencies Tourism—Department of Commerce Recreation—Several state and federal agencies Secondary Commerce—Department of Commerce |
Response Component
| Activation: | Triggered by the “alert” and “severe” drought stages of the PDSI and SWSI |
| Task forces/agencies: | Each member of the DAC, as well as supporting agencies, is given specific response action responsibilities depending on the stage |
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© 2006 National Drought Mitigation Center