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<br />...\/ <br /> <br />I <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />North American Interstate Weather Modification Council <br />www.nalwmc.org <br /> <br />IIFacilitating the exchange of interstate/interprovincial atmospheric <br />resource management information, II <br /> <br />Memorandum <br /> <br />To: Western Governors Association <br />From: North American Interstate Weather Modification Council <br />Re: Common interest in weather modification in the western U.S. <br /> <br />The North American Interstate Weather Modification Council (NAIWMC) is anon-profit, tax- <br />exempt organization of regulatory agencies, sponsoring organizations, and research institutions involved <br />in atmospheric water resource management technology, commonly known as weather modification or <br />cloud seeding. The NAIWMC exists to facilitate the free exchange of information regarding cloud seeding <br />research and operations in North America. The current membership of the Council includes <br />representatives from North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and <br />California, all states which have active operational weather modification programs. <br /> <br />The NAIWMC has actively sought cooperative assistance from federal agencies, most recently the <br />Bureau of Reclamation, to develop research programs for the benefit of operational state projects. The <br />NAIWMC has outlined a Weather Damage Modification Program (WDMP) that promotes the use of <br />weather modification technologies to mitigate the effects of natural disasters such as drought and <br />damaging hailstorms. Such technologies are currently employed operationally throughout the West to <br />augment snowfall, enhance summer rainfall and suppress the formation of hail. The NAIWMC has given <br />support to the bill recently introduced by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (S. 517, the Weather <br />Modification Technology Transfer Act) which seeks to develop a national weather modification board and <br />policy. We believe cooperative federal assistance programs such as these can be of great benefit to states <br />that currently spend at least $15 million annually on operational programs, but that have very little funding <br />leverage to support research for scientific and technological advances. <br /> <br />We support the recommendation of the Colorado Water Conservation Board that the WGA discuss <br />the issues of weather modification and its application to water management and weather related disasters <br />throughout the West at one of its upcoming meetings. Many NAIWMC members are either within, or very <br />closely associated with, the water agencies of their respective states. This will make the transfer of <br />pertinent information on weather modification to governors' staff members relatively easy. We look <br />forward to the opportunity to explore these common problems and ultimately to develop solutions for the <br />good of all the western states. <br /> <br />Arlen Huggins <br />Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV <br />Arlen.Huggins@dri.edu <br />NAIWMC Chair <br /> <br />Joe Busto <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board, Denver, CO <br />Joe.Busto@dwr.state.co.us <br />NAIWMC Vice Chair <br />