Governments and Intergovernmental Relationship
Each state consists of a state government as well as local governments. In order for a state to be a well-oiled machine the two must work together to insure it is running well. In some instances the State will mandate rules and regulations that govern the whole state such as the drinking age or State highway speed limits. Other times local cities will determine what is best for their city. You might have county that is a dry county, and the county next to it allows drinking. One example of how all the local governments work together for the good of the State would be the issue on water.
Water is a major issue for a lot of states that face major droughts throughout the summer months and even into the winter months. One such state that seems to have some type of drought issue every year is the great state of Colorado. Currently Colorado according to The U.S Drought Monitor have drought issues ranging from exceptional which is very high, to abnormally dry as being more normal, but still falling under drought guidelines.
The Governor in 2011 called for the development of a statewide water plan for the whole state in the next five years. Many different agency in Colorado are working together to come up with a solution to the drought problem The Colorado River Cooperative Agreement was set up to bring together both the Denver Water, the West Slope and soon to follow the Northern Water Conservancy district to work together to insure the Colorado continues to have an ample amount of water.
Now that the State has recognized that drought is an issue they want every city to get on board to find a solution to this problem.
Part of the plan that the state has taken to combat the drought problem is to have each city monitor their lakes and rivers and put registrations on how many times a week people can water. This year certain cities had to put restrictions on watering days as they did not thing they had enough water. Fort Collins, Colorado put a restriction in early spring that allowed only three days a week of watering. Shortly after that the restrictions were lifted, but some cities still have some type of restriction in place. They also left some restriction on town along the foothill so that more water was able to reach the Eastern slopes where much of the states agriculture is grown.
The advantage of the state and local governments working together is that it benefits everyone in the state. It also takes the burden off the agriculture industry when they restrict homes from water so much and give more to the farmers. If the state and local governments did not work together we would all but see the decimation of the farms out east as well as some town in the south. Colorado has shown other states that if the many governments can work together as one, they can insure a better quality of life for their citizens.
