WMOD00319

• Title: North American Interstate Weather Modification Council - Fiscal Year 2009 Request
• Prepared By: McClintock Associates, Inc.
• Date: 1/1/2007
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: General Information

The Weather Damage Mitigation Program

A Program for Support of Regional Cooperative Weather Damage
Mitigation Research

Rationale

Weather-related natural disasters in the United States annually result in the losses of billions of
dollars. Drought, hail, floods, and tornadoes are among the most common causes. The Weather
Damage Mitigation Program (WDMP) is consistent with national objectives to strengthen disaster
mitigation capabilities of industry, and local, state, and Federal governments, and with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's role as a weather research and application agency.

Efforts to directly mitigate weather-related losses through atmospheric water management
technology (cloud seeding) are presently being conducted in many states. However, local sponsors of
these programs can usually afford to fund only the projects themselves, providing few resources to
scientifically evaluate their efficacy, scientific basis, safety, and extra-area effects. While state
agencies are charged with project regulation, and many also provide significant cost-sharing, little is
being done at this level to answer the questions above; questions that will ultimately determine how
these technologies are improved and refined.

WDMP Background and Mission

The Energy and Water Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2002 created the WDMP within the
Bureau of Reclamation for the purpose of weather modification research. The specific provision is as
follows:

"The conference agreement includes $2,582,000 for the Drought Emergency Assistance
program. Within that amount, $2,000,000 is for the Bureau of Reclamation to establish a
Weather Damage Modification Program, including a regional weather modification
research program involving the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, and
Nevada. "

The WDMP will fund proposals for cooperative research and evaluation submitted to NOAA
through or by state agencies or state governmental research entities in conjunction with the
operational program(s) for which they propose collaboration and/or evaluation. The state proposals,
which describe research to resolve existing physical uncertainties and unresolved environmental and
extra-area effects, shall be subject to peer-review.

The responsible governmental entities of any state conducting operational cloud modification
programs intended to reduce weather-related damages shall be eligible. Funds can be used as
described above, and to collect data in the context of operational programs, but will not be used to
conduct operational seeding activities themselves. Interstate collaboration will be emphasized

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