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CWCB Staff Assisting Division of Emergency Management Staff with Pre-Disaster Mitigation Applications: Staff from the Flood Protection Section have been providing technical assistance to the . Colorado Division of Emergency Management (CD EM) for preparation of applications for the Pre- Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Grant Program. The PDM grant program is an All-Hazards Mitigation program to fund plans and projects for communities to reduce their susceptibility to a wide variety of natural hazards. Rather than allocating a certain amount of funding to each state, the program was nationally competitive with all applicants from every state competing against each other for a national pool of $150 million. There is no guarantee that a state may receive any funds, but there is also no ceiling on how much a state can be awarded. In Colorado, the grant program is managed by CDEM, an agency housed within the Department of Local Affairs. CDEM requested technical assistance from the CWCB Flood Protection Section for all flood- related applications. Last year, more than $10 million of federal grant funding was awarded for projects and plans to the State of Colorado with the flood grants representing the majority of these funds ($6 million). "We would not have had the success as a State that we experienced without the significant technical assistance provided by theColorado Water Conservation Board", stated Marilyn Gaily of CDEM, the State Hazard Mitigation Officer and PDM Grant Manager. 'The assistance provided by the CWCB was invaluable and proved to be the deciding factor for the flood applications. As a State, Colorado got more than our share this time around." Final applications are due March 9th, 2006. According to Kevin Houck, the applications are very well- prepared this year, and Colorado is anticipating favorable results when the award winners are announced in a few months. Weather Modification and Cioud Seeding: . Other States extend San Juan Mountains Cloud Seeding: As an outgrowth from the Seven . Basin States Meetings the CWCB, Metro Water District of Southern California (MWDSC), Reclamation, and Larry Hjermstad of Western Weather Consultants have worked together to fully utilize the San Juan Mountains cloud seeding permit. Southwestern WCD and others typically fund seeding through January 31 but still hold a permit through March 31 for every year. The Southern Nevada Water Authority, Central Arizona WCD, and the California Six Agency Committee represented by MWDSC have committed $45,000 to extend the seeding operations in the San Juan Mountains this year through March 31. Thirty five thousand will be given to the Southwestern WCD from NY, CA, and AZ and $10,000 will be contracted with Reclamation to conduct an independent evaluation of its effectiveness. In the states letter to Gale Norton dated February 3, 2006 it states, ''the states will move forward with a package of other actions that include.. .preparation of an action plan for system augmentation through weather modification......." The CWCB met with the Executive Director's office regarding this and the CWCB sent a letter on February 8 to Southwestern WCD stating that we were aware of this arrangement and found it acceptable. It is hoped that this permit extension is a first step towards a more collaborative approach to cloud seeding in the Colorado River Basin. On March 8, the Durango Herald ran the following article: Agencies in three states that rely on Colorado River water have hired the Southwestern Water Conservation District to coordinate a water-producing and water-conservation program. Southwestern board members in a telephone conference Wednesday approved a contract with the Six Agency Committee - a coalition of irrigation and metropolitan water districts in California - the Central Arizona Water Conservation District and the Southern Nevada Water Conservation District. Southwestern attorney Barry Spear characterized the contract as a good-faith gesture on . 36