Program cut to hurt NV, nation's driest state

 MSNBC - The most arid state in the nation is about to become drier. Nevada will lose enough water to supply 130,000 households annually because the state's cloud-seeding program is being closed due to budget cuts.

Tom Swafford, field operations manager for the program, said 65,000 acre-feet of water a year will be lost, a reduction that will affect ranchers, recreation and wildlife. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, enough to cover an acre a foot deep or supply about two households for a year.

The renowned program, operated by the Reno-based Desert Research Institute, squeezed 5 percent to 15 percent more snow from storms to increase the winter snowpack, which provides summertime water to the thirsty state, according to Swafford.

"That's a lot of water going away. It's kind of shortsighted for the driest state in the country," said Swafford, one of four program employees who will lose their jobs.

Nevada's average annual precipitation of 9.5 inches is by far the lowest in the nation, said Jim Ashby of the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno. Next are Utah at 12.22 inches and Wyoming at 12.92 inches.

DRI President Stephen Wells said he was forced to cut the cloud-seeding program because of 15 percent cuts imposed by the cash-strapped state. Cloud-seeding was DRI's largest single state-funded program at an annual cost of $550,000. About $10million of the research institute's $50 million-plus budget comes from the state.

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