BOARD02469

• Board Meeting Date: 7/18/2005
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

the country as part of a renewed effort by the Committee's Chair to improve and update
the Endangered Species Act. Full testimony is now available online at:
www.resourcescommittee.house.gov./archives/l09/wp/062205.htm.

Corps Omnibus Authorization Bill: On June 22 the U.S. House Transportation and
Infra-structure Committee unanimously approved the Water Resources Development Act
of 2005 (H.R. 2864. It authorizes hundreds of navigation improvement, flood protection
and environmental restoration projects, project modifications and investigations by the
Corps. It is the first omnibus Corps authorization bill in five years.

The bill includes authorizations for 30 projects with new favorable reports from the Chief
of Engineers relating to flood damage reduction, navigation, hurricane and storm damage
reduction, and environmental restoration. It also includes provisions for streamlining and
expediting Corps project delivery and permits. Moreover, it requires an independent peer
review of larger and more controversial studies. The Committee also approved a
managers' amendment making technical and clarifying changes and adding several new
projects and studies.

Water Resources Research Act Amendments: On June 8 the U.S. Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee favorably reported the Water Resources Research Act
Amendments of 2005 (S. 1017). The bill reauthorizes $62 million through FY2010 for
the Nation's Water Resources Research Institutes and $32 million for the Interstate
Research Program. It has bipartisan support. There is not yet a corresponding House bilL

Weather Modification Legislation S.517 and H.R. 2955 Introduced: Currently two
federal weather modification bills have been introduced. S.517 was introduced by Texas
Sen. Hutchison in March 2005, and in June 2005 Colorado Congressman Mark Udall
introduced H.R. 2955. A letter to Acting Deputy Director Rick Brown from Congressman
Udall regarding the recent CWCB resolution stated, "I share the Board's interest in this
issue-so much so that I have introduced a bill in the House (H.R. 2995) a companion to
S. 517 ........1 hope the Board can also take a look at my bill and can express support for
it as welL" Both bills are called the "The Weather Modification Research and
Technology Transfer Authorization Act".

At the May 2005 CWCB meeting in Salida, the Board approved a resolution supporting
S.517 and copies of this resolution were sent to both the local and D.C. offices of
Colorado's Congressional Delegation.

Staff member Joe Busto, who is currently the Vice-Chair of the North American
Interstate WM Council (NAIWMC), attended the Western Governor's Association
(WGA) representing both the CWCB and the NAIWMC. With assistance from the Chair
of the NAIWMC Council, Arlen Huggins of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, NV
and Steve Hunter of the USBR, CWCB staff prepared a memo and map of "cloud seeding
development potential" for the WGA meeting. CWCB staff spoke to many Natural
Resource Policy Advisors for the western states at the meeting and urged them to
consider the CWCB resolution supporting the WM legislation and the need for continued

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