WMOD00280

• Title: Potential Topic for Western Governors Association Future Meeting - Large Scale Weather Modification Programs for Managing Water Supply
• Prepared For: Russell George - ED DNR
• Prepared By: Rod Kuharich, Director, CWCB; Joe Busto, CWCB
• Date: 6/9/2005
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: General Information

S r '

<-

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

TO:
FROM:

Russell George, Executive Director Department of Natural Resources
Rod Kuharich, Director, Colorado Water Conservation Board
Joe Busto, Colorado Water Conservation Board
June 9, 2005
Potential Topic for Western Governors Association Future Meeting - Large
Scale Weather Modification Programs for Managing Water Supply

Bill Owens
Governor

DATE:
RE:

Russell George
Executive Director

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

Rick Brown
'd dd' h Acting Deputy
Through this memorandum we are requesting that you const er a mg weat er Director
modification (WM) as a potential tool for managing water supply to the agenda of a future
Western Governors Association Meeting. WM offers an important potential tool to address water supply issues
in the western United States. The Bureau of Reclamation's Water 2025 Initiative forecasts water shortages and
conflict in the West. The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) recently conducted over one hundred
roundtable meetings with stakeholders in a state level water needs assessment called the Statewide Water Supply
Initiative (SWSI). SWSI also emphasized pressure on water supplies imposed by continued urban growth in
Colorado. SWSI's vision was collective and proposes conservation, new projects, and agricultural water to meet
future needs. Growth and its demands on water are becoming costly and challenging, testing the viability and
competitiveness of western agriculture, WM offers yet another opportunity to address some of these challenges.
In May 2005 the CWCB adopted a resolution encouraging WM advancement because of its importance to
water management. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison introduced S.517, the Weather Modification Research
and Technology Transfer Authorization Act, on March 3, 2005. The bill outlines a national WM policy through
assistance to Federal and State programs, fulfilling the recommendation of the recent National Academies of
Sciences (NAS) report that calls for a coordinated national program.
The CWCB recommends increased support for weather modification and evaluations to build on fifty-
plus years of successful operations in the Western United States. Colorado has been permitting WM for thirty-
three years and its Legislature recognizes benefits derived from WM through programs and supporting statutes.
Drought recently spurred five new Colorado weather modification permits with the primary goal of snowpack and
streamflow augmentation. Local water users fund these permits and require technical and funding assistance from
governments.
WM can relieve the impacts of current and future water shortages. Snowpack produces nearly 80% of
Colorado's fresh water. One fourth of Colorado's snowfields are now in a cloud seeding target area, The impact
of population growth on already-stressed water supplies is a shared concern of the Western governments. We
rely on melt from mountain snowpack for 50% - 80% of Western reservoir water storage. Snowpack
augmentation through wintertime WM will become an increasingly indispensable technique for maintaining
water supplies.
The issue is not whether small-scale WM programs will develop in our states, but whether we will take
the lead in a transition from crisis demand management to more preemptive and proactive water supply
enhancement initiatives like large scale regional WM programs. This transition would fulfill the intent of the
National Drought Preparedness Act of 2005 (S 802 and HR 1386).

Background Information: Rapid population growth, greater values on water-based recreation, and
competition between municipalities and agriculture are changing the face of the Western water. The normal
patterns of western drought and resultant low flows make additional snowpack very attractive. The attached map
shows snowfields in the West and areas of greatest water conflict. Based on the proximity of the two, we identify

Flood Protection . Water Supply Planning and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning