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<br />002110 <br /> <br />This law designates the Division of Water Resources as the regulatory agency <br /> <br /> <br />for cloud seeding, and the Board of Water Resources has approved a set of <br /> <br /> <br />rules and regulations which is filed with the State Archives, which are the <br /> <br /> <br />requirements for a permit on specific projects. A point about the law that <br /> <br /> <br />has been misunderstood, is the part that states, <br /> <br />"All water derived as a result of cloud seeding <br />shall be considered as a part of Utah's basic water <br />supply, the same as all natural precipitation water <br />supplies have been heretofore, and all statutory pro- <br />visions that apply to water from natural precipitation <br />shall also apply to water derived from cloud seeding." <br /> <br />This means that in Utah's water right structure where you have priority rights, <br /> <br /> <br />the extra water goes to fulfill the priority right. When a primary user is <br /> <br /> <br />fulfilled, the secondary users gets the water and so on. It does not mean <br /> <br /> <br />that water derived from cloud seeding can be filed on separately as some <br /> <br /> <br />people have suggested. We have contracted with a private attorney to research <br /> <br /> <br />several questions on this issue, however. <br /> <br />Utah is somewhat unique in the weather modification field because of the <br /> <br /> <br />emphasis placed on operational projects. This does not mean that we in this <br /> <br /> <br />state have our heads in the sand on research, environment, etc.; because there <br /> <br />are substantial (60% operational, 35% research) funds spent in these areas. It <br /> <br /> <br />simply means that we the users; farmers, engineers, planners; all of us en- <br /> <br />trusted with developing the water resources in Utah feel the research that has <br /> <br /> <br />been done to date indicates it is possible to realize a 5%-10%-20% increase in <br /> <br /> <br />precipitation from cloud seeding, provided certain criteria are followed. <br /> <br /> <br />By saying this, we are not saying we do not need more research, because <br /> <br /> <br />we recognize this technology is in the infancy state and there is much more <br /> <br /> <br />to be learned. We are only saying that chances look real good that we can be <br /> <br /> <br />realizing these increases in precipitation~, so let us do it and utilize <br /> <br /> <br />the techniques of cloud seeding as research develops them. Now, let me talk <br /> <br /> <br />about other activities in Utah. <br /> <br /> <br />a. Operational Proiects <br /> <br /> <br />We have two operational projects in Utah; one for winter snowpack <br /> <br /> <br />increase, the other for hail suppression and precipitation enhancement. <br /> <br /> <br />First, the winter project. The Southern Utah Project began in 1973 and <br /> <br /> <br />included twelve counties of the Southern area of the State (Beaver, Emery, <br /> <br />11 <br />