BOARD00149 ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 3/12/2007
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River - Weather Modification Cooperative Agreement Issues
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.us

MEMORANDUM

Bill Ritter, Jr,
Governor

Harris D, Shennan
Executive Director

TO:
FROM:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members
Rod Kuharich
Ted Kowalski
Joe Busto
March 1,2007
Agenda Item 9b, March 12 -13, 2007, Board Meeting-
Weather Modification Cooperative Agreement Issues

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

DATE:
SUBJECT:

Background
As you know, the Colorado River seven basin States have been negotiating an agreement that establish
shortage criteria for the lower basin states and would modify the operations of Lake Mead and Lake
Powell during low reservoir conditions. In addition, the seven basin states have been exploring
augmentation possibilities, efficiency improvements, and other ways to increase the amount of water
available in the Colorado River System.

In June 2006 the California Water Education Foundation hosted a Colorado River Weather Modification
workshop in Boulder. After presentations of the issues principals of the Colorado River Seven Basins
States decided to develop agreements for funding cloud seeding programs in Utah and Colorado and
provide funding for the Wyoming research experiment.

The States of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah have been negotiating with the Southern Nevada Water
Authority, the Central Arizona Project, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to
allow the lower basin entities ("LB") to help fund weather modification operations in these States. The
CWCB and the Attorney General's office have worked on many iterations of an agreement for the last
eight months. The base language in the agreement is designed to reaffirm: authorities of the agencies,
the law of the River, state water laws, and the support the seven basin states agreement on coordinated
reservoir operations and shortage criteria. The exhibits attached to this cloud seeding agreement allow
for multiple year collaborations and set agreed to yearly priorities. The agreement can be terminated if
the CWCB and the LB don't agree on the annual content of the exhibit. These negotiations have
resulted in a draft agreement that is acceptable to the CWCB with one notable issue--costs for potential
mitigation from increased weather modification operations.

The LB is reluctant to include language stating funds can be used to mitigate activities: 1) in the
Colorado River Basin; and, 2) in other affected basins. First, the CWCB seeks consensus in this
agreement that mitigation of cloud seeding, within the Colorado River Basin, is an issue for all parties to
address collectively. Second, CWCB also contends that their funding can, and should, be used to cloud

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