Finance Committee Meeting 2009

• Board Meeting Date: 9/15/2009
• Description: Finance Sub-Committee Meeting September 15, 2009
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

Water Project Construction Program - Project Data
Non-Reimbursable Investment
• Grantee: Colorado Water Conservation Board County: Statewide
Project Name: Weather Modification-Water User Cost Share Assistance
Project Type: Grants for operations,grants for optimization of permitted cloud seeding programs
Drainage Basin: San Juan,Gunnison, Colorado Water Source:N/A
Total Project Cost: $700,000(Estimated Local Avg.) Funding Source: CWCB Const. Fund
Type of Grantee: Local Government CWCB Non-Reimbursable Inv.: $175,000
SUMMARY
The CWCB has authority to permit and regulate weather modification
operations in Colorado (C.R.S 36-20-101 through 36-20-127). The \?.-
CWCB also has authorities to aide in the development of water
resources. In section 36-20-108(4)(b) it states that "The director may - _� �i ti �
represent the State and assist counties, municipalities, and public = . j
agencies in contracting with commercial operators for the performance + � .",�_
of weather modification or cloud seeding operations." This request is a ' 1 •
hare in the development of wintertime cloud seeding programs i '.
cost-share p r -
and could be considered building local capacity. Water augmentation $"
State of New Mexico,
the CWCB, the Sta , and three
agreements between ,
Colorado River Basin Water Users were developed to support Colorado's cloud seeding programs. The CWCB
appropriation leverages and cooperates with other states and locals around snowpack
augmentation to benefit our river systems. The funding is also used for ‘.`,1'.•
modernization of their programs to ensure that all of our resources are being wisely
invested. Evaluations have shown it is important to reliably release seeding material . t♦ Y :`
in clouds in order to achieve a 10% increase in snowpack snow water equivalent in a 4` Q
target area Nevada went to remote operated (analog cellular communication) r
generators in 1975 in order to reliably release the seeding material near clouds. ='4 ''4;
Colorado's has 100 manually operated generators and many are in mountain valleys
and improvements can be made. Programs should seek to deploy equipment in the ,` � . •
highest elevation terrain available. The picture shows the difference in cloud
seeding equipment technologies we are deploying from the Desert Research Institute ?,
in Reno, Nevada. In the picture the old manual operated generator is tan (right), a
propane tank (middle), and Colorado's first remote operated generator (green) are
shown.
Total Grants Distribution (08-09)
During the winter 2008-09 the CWCB,Colorado River Water Users, and New Mexico agreements totaled
$343,000. The CWCB provided $175,000 of that total. The total Lower Basin budget is $300K per year and is
the funding shared between Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. In addition to providing grant money to local
agencies and as part of the CWCB, Colorado River,and New Mexico Agreements, the following new
equipment in Colorado is completed or is planned as well:
• Weather Station on Grand Mesa(deployed 2007)
• Remote operated generator on the west end of Grand Mesa on Kannah Creek(deployed 2007)
• Propane Dispenser added to Grand Mesa weather station(deployed 2008)
• • Remote operated generator on Milk Creek above Cedaredge (deployed 2008)
• Weather Station at Purgatory/Durango Mountain Resort(deployed fall 2009)
• Remote operated generator on Mancos Mountain(deployed fall 2009)
• Two remote operated generators for Winter Park/Denver Water(deployed fall 2009)