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<br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br /> <br />VVESTERN STA.TES V'VATER COUNCIL <br /> <br />Cr..kvi.~. Plo:", Suit. ,1-201/942 I,OSI 7145 SQulh I Mid.,o'c, L'lab 8-10471 (1101 J ~61-5.lOlJ 1 "',IX (HII/ 1155-9642 <br /> <br />Weh Page: )t'll",,', "M"f>stgcn-',,,rglto.'s'K'r <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />February 21, 2007 <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, Chair <br />Senate Committee on Commerce, <br />Science & Transportation <br />United States Senate <br />SD-364 Dirksen Senate Office Building <br />Washington, DC 20510 <br /> <br />The Honorable Bart Gordon, Chair <br />House Committee on Science & Technology <br />United States House of Representatives <br />2320 Rayburn House Office Building <br />Washington, DC 20515 <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The Honorable Ted Stevens, Ranking Member <br />Senate Committee on Commerce, <br />Science & Transportation <br />United States Senate <br />SD-560 Dirksen Senate Office Building <br />Washington, DC 20510 <br /> <br />The Honorable Ralph HaIl, Ranking Member <br />House Committee on Science & Technology <br />United States House of Representatives <br />394 Ford House Office Building <br />Washington, DC 20515 <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Dear Chairmen and Ranking Minority Members: <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The Western States Water Council, representing eighteen states and governors, strongly supports a <br />comprehensive, cooperative and coordinated national policy and legislation to establish and implement an <br />effective weather modification program, promote research and development, and provide financial assistance <br />to private and public entities, in harmony with existing state laws and programs. The Council supported <br />S, 517 and H.R. 2995, the Weather Modification Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act, as <br />introduced respectively by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Rep. Mark UdaIl of Colorado in the <br />109th Congress. These bipartisan bills would have authorized $10 million per year for ten years to enhance <br />federal support for weather modification research and development programs. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Several western states permit and regulate weather modification activities for various purposes <br />ranging from snow augmentation to hail suppression, under varying state statutes and programs, and support <br />operational weather modification projects. The Seven Colorado River Basin States have agreed that a <br />relatively smaIl investment to support operational projects may yield significant returns in the form of a more <br />secure water supply. The State of Wyoming alone has recently undertaken an $8,8 million five-year program <br />to further demonstrate the potential for augmenting snowpack through cloud seeding in a statisticalIy sound, <br />verifiable fashion. However, at present there is no comparable federal effort. Of note, states are exploring <br />potential public-private partnerships with the insurance industry to help fund weather modification activities <br />to reduce damage from hail. A federal weather damage modification program within the Department of <br />Interior, which the Council supports, has not been funded recently. More needs to be done to verify and <br />realize the benefits derived from weather modification for the West and the Nation. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />In the mountains of the West, much of our water supply originates from snow, which serves as a <br />natural reservoir holding water that is released with the spring melt. This water not only supplies myriad <br />domestic, municipal, commercial and industrial uses -- growing with our population -- but it is vital for a <br />productive agricultural and successful navigation season. The life cycle of numerous species of fish and <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />