 The federal government is spending $5 million to improve drought monitoring and forecasts in the West. That's to help states, communities, and farmers better plan and prepare for droughts. The Mountain West News Bureau's Kayla Bradel has more. One project is studying how often spring heat waves happen and how frequently they turn into snow droughts. That's when there's less snowpack than normal. Those researchers are also looking into how those events affect downstream water supplies.