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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Cisneros

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/28/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Jemez y Sangre Water District Cloud Seeding

SB 431

ANALYST Lewis

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

1,400.0 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates HB 149.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

SUMMARY

FOR THE WATER AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 431 appropriates $1,400,000 from the general fund to the Interstate Stream Commis-

sion to conduct a demonstration cloud seeding program in the Jemez y Sangre Regional Water

Planning District.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1,400,000 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall

revert to the general fund.

According to the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), the Interstate Stream Com-

mission (ISC) was unable to determine whether $1,400,000 is a realistic cost for the proposed

demonstration project.

Senate Bill 431 – Page

2

The Office of the State Engineer (OSE) notes that evaluation of the benefits derived from cloud

seeding is difficult; and expenditure of the full appropriation in one year might lead to less than

the best possible results for a demonstration project. OSE recommends that expenditure of the

appropriation should be extended through three fiscal years.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Office of the State Engineer (OSE), weather modification is identified in the

state water plan and most regional water plans as a potential source of new water supply. Be-

cause of a resurgence of weather modification research and cloud seeding operations throughout

the western states, motivated by increasing water demands and drought, the Interstate Stream

Commission (ISC) expects a marked increase in weather control and cloud modification pro-

grams under the New Mexico Weather Control Act.

OSE notes that, since January 2004, a subgroup of the Jemez y Sangre Regional Water Planning

Group of Northern New Mexico has conducted Cloud Seeding Workshops in Santa Fe. Nation-

ally prominent scientists, meteorologists, cloud seeding operators and consultants actively in-

volved in weather modification research and operations throughout the western United States

have provided presentations at the workshops. Santa Fe business interests co-sponsored the

workshops and attended by a broad range of regional public officials.

The Jemez y Sangre group has used the information provided from the workshops to develop a

detailed project plan and scope of work for a demonstration program to evaluate regional atmos-

pheric conditions and better understand operational and assessment requirements for conducting

cloud seeding operations in northern New Mexico.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

DFA notes that previous cloud-seeding projects have meet with mixed opinion as to the efficacy

of the practice. The ISC, which is the agency with statutory authority to license and regulate

cloud seeding, reports that its role in distributing these funds will allow it to incorporate quantifi-

able measurement and benefit analysis into the demonstration project to determine the efficacy

of cloud seeding.

DFA suggests that this demonstration project may also provide insight into best practices for

cloud seeding and cloud seeding regulation.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DFA notes that the ISC appears to have sufficient resources and expertise to administer this

demonstration project.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

OSE cautions that, given the variability of the natural meteorological environment, great care

must be taken in the planning, execution, and assessment of cloud seeding projects.

DFA suggests that

under modified accrual accounting (Section 6-5-10(A) NMSA 1978), rever-

Senate Bill 431 – Page

3

sion language should read “Any unreserved undesignated balance remaining at the end of fiscal

year 2007 shall revert to the general fund.”

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

OSE observes that, if this bill is not enacted, there will be no state support for cloud seeding ac-

tivities that show promise in terms of development of alternate water resources.

AMENDMENTS

OSE proposes an amendment to extend the appropriation through three fiscal years.

ML/mt