Western Governor's Association Meeting May 31 2005

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STATE OF COLORADO Colorado Water Conservation Board Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman Street, Room 721 Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone: (303) 866 -3441 FAX: (303) 866 -4474 www.cwcb.state.co.us TO: Russell George, Executive Director Department of Natural Resources FROM: Rod Kuharich, Director, Colorado Water Conservation Board Joe Busto, Colorado Water Conservation Board DATE: May 31, 2005 RE: Western Governor's Association Meeting Attachments: Western U.S. Potential Cloud Seeding Target Areas CWCB Weather Modification Resolution Bill Owens Governor Russell George Executive Director Rod Kuharich CWCB Director Dan McAuliffe Deputy Director The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) recommends increased support for weather modification programs and evaluation that should build on fifty years of successful operations in the Western U.S. Colorado has been permitting weather modification for thirty-five years and its Legislature recognizes benefits derived from WM through programs and statutes. Drought developed 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. In our snowpack may lie some of the answers to water shortages that we seek. Snowpack produces nearly 80% of Colorado's fresh water; one fourth of Colorado's snowfields are in a cloud seeding target area. The impact of population growth on already - stressed water supplies is a shared concern of the governments in the west. We rely heavily on the melt from mountain snowpack for 50% - 80% of our reservoir water storage. Augmenting snowpack through wintertime weather modification will become essential. Reclamation's Water 2025 Initiative forecasts water shortages and conflict in the West. The CWCB recently conducted 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 simply put will use conservation, new projects, and agricultural water to meet future needs but ultimately these efforts will not be enough. Growth and new demands on water resources are becoming costly and challenging testing the viability and competitiveness of western states agriculture. In May of 2005 the CWCB adopted a resolution that recognizes weather modification and encourages advancement because of its importance to current and future 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 develops a national weather modification policy through assistance to Federal and state programs that fulfill the main recommendation of a recent National Academies of Sciences (NAS) report that called for a coordinated national program to conduct sustained research. The CWCB is a member of the North American Interstate Weather Modification Council ( NAIWMC), joining nine other Western states in seeking assistance and Federal partnerships. NAIWMC estimates that nearly $15 million per year is spent in the West by state and local entities on operational weather modification, despite very little federal funding in the field. The last Federal funding for weather modification was for evaluations in 2003 through the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Weather Damage Modification Program (WDMP). The CWCB endorses a permanent Congressional authorization to fund operations and evaluations modeled after the successful Federal -State partnership demonstrated by the WDMP. States will need the Flood Protection • Water Supply Planning and Finance • Stream and Lake Protection Water Supply Protection • Conservation and Drought Planning