Snow machine blasts snow onto Mount Blue Cow, Perisher Blue Resort

The winter tourism industry has praised the successful trial of a cloud seeding project and urges the NSW Government to implement the project permanently in time for next winter.

The Australian Ski Areas Association (ASAA) with Thredbo, Charlotte Pass, Perisher and Selwyn Snowfields resorts is asking the NSW Government to "formally authorise" the permanent operation of the Snowy Hydro Cloud Seeding Project declaring the move will boost the region's tourism and economy.

"[The implementation of permanent cloud seeding] will lead to more snow and more jobs that has (sic) minimal, if any, impact on the environment."

According to the ASAA, an independent scientific report claimed that seeded storms produced an average 14 per cent more snow over the trial period, with "no evidence of any downwind effects on communities in lower elevation areas" and "no significant environmental impacts" after six years of "detailed" monitoring.

"There is a direct link between the amount of snow each year and the number of jobs and economic activity local communities and the NSW Government benefit from," ASAA chief executive Ashley Blondel said.

"Increasing snowfalls each year from cloud seeding has a significant and important benefit for large and small commercial businesses in the region that flow through to the NSW Government...there is now no reason for the trial to not become  a permanent feature of winter in the Snowy Mountains," he said.

Thredbo general manager Kim Clifford claimed permanent cloud seeding would be a "win-win situation", saying, "Increased snowfalls directly relate to increased visitation, which is a great result for the industry as a whole."