general prevailing wind pattern over the United States is west to east, thus any experimentation is carried eastward. We understand results experienced by General Electric and the New Mexico School of Mines indicate that seeding experiments caused serious heavy rainfall more than a thousand miles east of the site of the experiments. We ask the committee to examine findings of early research before final drafting of this bill. One omission in S. 2875 is the absence of guidelines for the issuing agency to follow in licensing experimentation. This matter is of greatest national importance and, therefore, it should be possible for the greatest number of persons interested in the matter to try their hands. At the same time, the location of the experiments, the timing in relation to other work, and other considerations should be under reasonable control and coordination. The keeping of records and their submission to the Water Resources Council is extremely necessary. However, this is not to say that the developer should not be entitled to the protection of patents so he may reap a reasonable benefit from his private enterprise. We cannot too strongly stress the need to hold this work in the greatest secrecy, and to guard successful methods as a highest public asset. The information should not be shared with any other country and those having access to any significant body of information should be subject to the highest form of security clearance. The committee should well understand that if a good method of weather modification is developed, it becomes a tremendous power in the hands of the developer. It can be used for good or evil. Ît can create justice and injustice. It can be used for political purposes, to punish or to reward. In this lies the control of the water supply of cities, the ability to raise crops or destroy them or to govern their volume. It might be well for this committee to consider what sort of control should be placed over this power. A possibility we would present for consideration is a board similar to the Federal Reserve Board. The term of the appointee should be rather long, say 6 years. The membership would have to have geographical and political distribution. There would have to be broad general knowledge of the geographic area, crops, cities, forests, rivers, and so forth. The geographical distribution might be divided in four quarters: northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest; with the 100th meridian dividing east and west, and the line running generally along the northern boundary of North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona dividing north and south. There should be two men from each quadrant with a ninth appointed at large. The terms would be staggered. No two members should come from the same State. The machinery herein outlined must be as free as possible from the pressure of the electorate in that volume of votes does not guarantee the wisdom of Solomon. Cities and industries need water as well as food and fiber. This board must be in the unenviable position of neatly making a proper allocation for both. We appreciate the opportunity to be heard on this bill and hope that we have been able to add something constructive for your consideration. Our concern in this matter is that it is vitally concerned with our day-to-day operations. Senator ANDERSON. Thank you. This is a very interesting paper, because these are questions which have not been raised as to how they are going to be operated. I am glad you referred to the fact that the cloud seeding did have an effect on the eastern part of the country. We once seeded every 8 days, for example, in Albuquerque and after 3 days they would have rain in the same intervals in Red River. We can't prove those things tie together. The mere fact that it happened indicates that there might be something to it. Similarly in the same period at this stage up in Omaha the rains from the mountains moved up and down. There is some reason to be careful about it and to have very good protection for all people concerned. We appreciate your comments related to this. Mr. HUNING. Thank you. Senator ANDERSON. Senator Bible. Senator BIBLE. I think your observations cover the points I had, Mr. Chairman. There are some interesting philosophies here. I do take it that you do wholeheartedly endorse this bill? Mr. HUNING. We do, as we stated initially. We certainly do wholeheartedly endorse the bill. Senator BIBLE. You are throwing up some things that we had better watch out for. Mr. HUNING. They are some thoughts that were presented to us. We are concerned because this is our business and we are depending on this rainfall in our livestock business in New Mexico. They are directly affected by the results of these experiments. Senator BIBLE. I understand. Thank you, very much. Mr. HUNING. Thank you. Senator ANDERSON. Are there other witnesses? I have a statement here of Eugene Finch, legislative director of the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau. That will be included in the hearing record at this point. (The statement referred to follows:) STATEMENT OF EUGENE FINCH, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, NEW MEXICO FARM AND LIVESTOCK BUREAU I represent the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau which consists of 9,232 family members. We deeply appreciate this opportunity to present our views on S. 2875. As an agriculture organization, we are very concerned with water development be it underground, surface, or atmospheric. Being in a water-deficient area we are most interested in any logical research that could possibly provide a more adequate supply of water. Therefore, we are in agreement with the basic concept of S. 2875. For years our policy, as set forth by our members, has recognized that with the tremendous advancement of science and technology in the field of meteorology and more specifically weather modification comes the realization that control measures must be taken. I would like this committee to take note of the fact that the New Mexico Legislature in 1965 passed a Weather Control Act which farm bureau supported. Perhaps other States have also legislated in this area. We feel that provisions should be made to coordinate S. 2875 with existing State laws in the same field. We feel that section 204 of the printed bill should be amended to give the Secretary of the Interior, or a resource council, authority to coordinate all weather modification research conducted by all agencies of the Federal Government as a deterrent to duplication. Again, we thank you for this opportunity to appear before this committee. Senator ANDERSON. I have received a telegram which I will include at this point. (The telegram referred to follows:) Senator CLINTON ANDERSON, ALBUQUERQUE, N. MEX., April 13, 1966. Confirming our prior weather modification testimony at Senator Dominick's hearings, we congratulate Senator Anderson on his farsighted efforts. We share his desire to draw available water (25 million gallons per square mile) from the blue, and we have demonstrated weather engineering, Bosco technique, successfully in many New Mexico areas. References include J. C. Johnson, Tularosa and Ruidoso ski area. Share the resentment of many New Mexicans against a whole year's drought produced by other flamboyant type cloudseeding operators. This is not forgotten by many New Mexicans. Seek assurance such operators will be precluded from these operations with a maximum safe monthly ration of under 20 pounds silver iodide total State per month. Such assurance includes prior directors of such work whose unchanged procedures are still rigidly adhered to as currently reported in scientific publications. Aerial seeding or lengthy ground seeding. We welcome a chance to again prove our New MexicoTexas snow- and rain-increasing ability, subject to past and recent successes assuring a continuing program under our close supervision. DENVER, COLO. WEATHER ENGINEERING, By F. NEAL Bosco. Senator ANDERSON. Thank you all for being here. The hearing is closed. (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 3 p.m., April 14, 1966.) О |