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<br />. <br />, <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />209 <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br /> <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Shennan Street, Room 721 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />.Phone: (303) 866.3441 <br />FAX: (303) 866-4414 <br />www.cwcb.state.co.us <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Bill Owen, <br />Governor <br /> <br />Greg E. Walcher <br />Executive Director <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />Rod.Kuharich <br />CWCB Director <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />Dan McAuliffe <br />Deputy Di"""or <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />Members, Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />tV r .'JJ.{J- <br />William P. Stanton, P.E. <br />Retired CWCB Employee on Temporary Assignment <br /> <br />DATE: March 15, 2001 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Agenda Item 12, March 26 - 27, 2001, Board MeetIng- <br />Weather Modification Permit Program <br /> <br />e Introduction <br /> <br />The moisture suspended in the atmosphere is a vast, often invisible natural resource. It has been <br />estimated that only about 2% to 3% of the moisture in the atmosphere falls as natural precipitation. <br />Moisture that falls naturally or is artificially induced to fall as precipitation within Colorado is the <br />property ofthe people of the state. Weather modification is the science and practice of artificially <br />changing the weather. Cloud seeding, the primary weather modification activity, is the intentional <br />treatment of individual clouds or cloud systems to achieve some desired effect. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />The Colorado General Assembly has declared that the State of Colorado recognizes that economic <br />benefits can be derived for the people of the state from weather modification. Therefore, operation, <br />research, experimentation, and development in the field of weather modification has been <br />encouraged. <br /> <br />Pm:poses of Weather Modification <br /> <br />Weather modification is used for two basic purposes in Colorado; to increase precipitation or to <br />reduce precipitation. Examples of applications to increase precipitation include inducing more rain in <br />the suunner during drought, more snow in the winter for enhanced runoff and reservoir storage in the <br />spring, and more snow in the fall and winter for an earlier and dependable start of the ski season. <br />Examples of applications to reduce precipitation include causing less hail during severe storms and <br />fog suppression at airports. <br />