Committee holds cloud-seeding transparency bill after debate over reports and generator maps

The House Resources and Conservation Committee on an unspecified date held Senate Bill 1064, a proposal that would require the Idaho Water Resource Board to publish an annual report on state and private cloud-seeding operations and to include maps showing generator locations, sponsor Representative Joe Alfieri said at the committee hearing.

The bill matters because supporters say it would increase transparency about where and how cloud seeding is being done, while critics said the reporting and environmental-assessment language could impose duplicative, expensive requirements that threaten a program credited with boosting water for southern Idaho agriculture.

Representative Joe Alfieri, R-District 4 (Coeur d'Alene), told the committee the bill is intended to define the State's existing cloud-seeding program and to require annual reporting so the state can “make a determination” about whether suspected effects are occurring. “Let's collect the data so that we can address the issues and concerns of both groups,” Alfieri said.

Supporters of the substitute motion to send the bill to the House floor argued the measure would create public trust by documenting operations and outcomes. Representative Tanner, who…