WMOD00125

• Contract/Permit #: #90-3
• Applicant: Western Kansas Groundwater
• Project Name: Kansas Weather Modification
• Date: 6/1/1990
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Public Hearing

.~""' - }.~ '.~;'

.)~';i;~"S1<'--"'>)'-\":;
.. ,

-)

-}

_",/~ECEIVEo

JUL 1 8 '90
COLORAD
". CON 0 WATER
1990 SERVAllON
SOARO

NEWSLETTER 90 - 11

FOR THE PERIOD JULY 7 - JULY 13,

~RAL _.INTEREST: Frc;nn M<>.y 1st through June 14th we did not have
a permit to overfly Colorado for the purposes of seeding clouds.
Fortunately, there may have been only one or t~IO instances wbere we
might have wanted to but it didn't significantly affect seeding
operations.

A permit hearing had be..n convened in Lamar, Colol-ado <Pro"!ers
County), May 3rd by the Colorado Water Conservation Board to secure
public input. Our permit was ",ssentii.lly asking for up to 30 1\\ileO'
of ail-space, if need",d, in Which to perform seeding for effect in
Kans.!!.s---not Colorado. On June 15th we were givell .. penuit to SO,"i:l
in GoloH..do but 'Using ths SCl\UQ iO-mil" liInitD.s 111 pn~vio'-1~ V8L\rs.
To his credit. the hearing officer lnade his decision to allow- us to
fly into COlorado ba,;;ed upon .scientitic evidence, not opinions,
}..,tJr<=i';'Y, 'f'''I.-'=,;:H"lBl bJ.'l"', or Hhilil8 of those in e,;f;i;sndCl.1Ke, ''>!;lYer<1-1 of
wh ieh wen~ county commissioners.

In retrospect, it appears tbere was total confusion on the
parts of the CO\JI1ty commissioner.s of those Colorl!ldo counties
bordering Kansas about what we are doing and what ~Ie are not doing
when we seed 0101.1(15, let alone seeding in Colorado---fol- effect in
Kansas. In asking for a 30 mile limit we had in mind dealing with
a worst-cas~ scena~io such as the kind of severe storm experienced
on June 19th, lnany will recall, that passed thr-ough Prowers County
first before devastating portions of Hamilton, Stanton, Kearny and
Grant cDunties <it lnue;t have been bad in Colortldo, too). Had there
been dl:Cferent circumstances (such a.s mon" air.craft available for
seeding and 30 miles flying space west Dt the Kansas line), hail
damage from that storm, 1ll0~j; likely, wO\lld have been minimal by the
time it reached Kansas. In any event even 10 miles flying room
inside Colorado can provide an adequate cushion against lI10st 6ev<al-e
storlllS e~<::l,lpt thnsA fe~{ that travel .....ery rapidly "" Lhat track
almost directly west-to-ee,:"t.

OPERATIONS: There were 5 seeding days this week. Most storm
activity resulted from combined interactions between strong
afternoon heatillE~ and. either a Slow-moving cold front, a low level
low-pressure center or, most :frequently, surface tl'oughing.

JULY 8th---OPERATIONAL DAY #21: II', late afternoon dozens of small
storms beg.!!.n developing along a surface trough oriented NE-8W
across tbe target ~l'ea from Lane County to Stanton County and into
BE Color~do. By 3:53 p.m., MDT, all planas had been scrambled for
soading. The stl..uugest stonns fil-st occurred north of Lakin and NW
of Johnson. Seeding began at 4: 17 p. m. in Stanton County a11d at
4:23 p.m. in Ke~u-ny County. Seeding Was done around various stol-ms
in the line of cells for both rainfall stimulation and bail
suppression as cendi tions wan'anted. Storms continued l)uilding NW,
into the sunlight (ar,d warmer ail-) then tracked NE Or NNE. Seeding
activities eventually progre.-:;sed HW into Greeley, Wichita and