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r:rr'Jr,'{ u u tJ....._ . . Our January 1968 report on the findings of our studies concluded that, with the assumed levels of technology, it is reasonable to expect that detailed studies will establish that it would be feasible to augment the Colorado River with at least 2 to 2.5 million acre-feet of desalted sea water annua1\y, Eventually amounts greater than 2,5 million acre-feet per year will be needed, The report presented alternative plans including location of the desalt- ing plant on the Gulf of Southern California, It pointed out that if proper international agreements could be worked out significant savings in water conveyance costs could be realized by such a location, Con- tinuing study of alternative routes and of developing technologies in nuclear reactors and desalting equipment will be an important part of the augmentation study effort, Recent studies of geo-thermal areas in Southern California reveal the presence of large bodies of ground water at high temperatures having major potential for conversion to electric power, The potential also is available for recovery of millions of acre-feet of water susceptible to conversion to fresh water. Further study of these potentials also will be undertaken, Weather Modification -- Detailed planning is being initiated for a large- scale pilot operation in the Upper Colorado River Basin, Knowledge gained through comprehensive efforts and research projects financed through the National Science Foundation lends validity to the planning of an under- taking of this magnitude, This first pilot project logically could be initiated within the next five years. Primary target areas for initial large-scale operations have been tentatively selected, These areas total 14,200 square miles and have precipitation and runoff sufficient to warrant weather modification, These areas are generally above 9,500 feet where settlement is sparse and where temperatures are suitably cold during reasonably long periods of time. The best seeding season normally is November through April when an average of 19,4 inches of precipitation occurs, We believe it safe to assume that average winter precipitation can be increased by IS-percent within the next 10 years, Such estimates seem conservative when we consider that current cloud seeding oper- ations and experiments are yielding precipitation increases in the general range of 10-to-20-percent and that expanded knowledge and improved systems should be available by the mid-1970's, Such an increase would provide an average annual streamflow augmenta- tion of about 1,900,000 acre-feet during the spring runoff, Regulation provided by the large a mount of storage capacity built in the Colorado River Basin will make virtually all the increase usable water supply. - 6 -