Company pulls application for cloud seeding over Northern New Mexico
Cloud seeding plan meets opposition
November 23, 2021 | |
“Questions about safety, funding and threats to stop a proposed plan to conduct cloud seeding in Northern New Mexico were among issues posed to members of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and Western Weather Consultants of Durango, Colorado, during a public meeting hosted via webinar Monday (Nov. 22).
The webinar was, in some respects, overshadowed by the commission’s regulation that public objections must be received in writing at the agency’s Santa Fe office by 5 p.m. that very day. When asked by a public commenter if the agency might modify the rules a little to accommodate citizens who may object to the plan, but couldn’t make it to the office under the deadline, ISC Deputy Director Hannah Riseley-White said they were “following the rule” and couldn’t change it.
Riseley-White said the ISC is a state agency that is “tasked with ensuring New Mexico’s compliance with our interstate compacts, but also with a number of other duties, including water planning. We’re currently carrying out a 50-year water plan, which is one of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s key initiatives.”
November 24, 2021 | |
“TAOS — A Colorado company has retracted its application to conduct a cloud seeding project in Northern New Mexico.
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission Deputy Director Hannah Riseley-White said Western Weather Consultants of Durango, Colo., told her about its change in plans Tuesday.
The company did not respond to requests for comment on the decision.
“The reason they gave was the timeline was pushed back too far for adequate time for the program,” said Riseley-White, who also is chairwoman of the commission’s newly formed Weather Control Committee.
The commission held a webinar on the project Monday, when the majority of the 150-plus members of the public who dialed in voiced objections.”
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