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<br />000585 <br /> <br />High Plains Cooperative Program, but also the future option <br /> <br /> <br />for total weather system modification. To date, about <br /> <br /> <br />$8 million has been invested on cloud seeding rainfall <br /> <br /> <br />augmentation research in the Plains, most of it through <br /> <br /> <br />the Bureau of Reclamation's Project Skywater. <br /> <br />Existing technology, with its lingering uncertainties and <br />scattered public acceptance, probably is capable of pro- <br />ducing about $50 million annual benefit for the region <br />if widely implemented. The minimum cooperative program <br />option for only an initial cumulus technology presented <br />in this plan will give a cumulative Federal research <br />investment of about $20 million by 1980. This will furnish <br />a verified, acceptable capability of realizing about <br />$250 million annually, although actual application - even <br />with a sound public decision framework established - <br />probably will be implemented at a more gradual rate. <br /> <br />The program plan also includes funds for the preliminary <br />research toward a full precipitation management technology <br />for all weather and cloud systems. Completion of this <br />research may increase the cumulative Federal investment <br />but can be expected to provide a comprehensive capability <br />of yielding over $500 million annually in the Plains. <br />Decisions on this further continuation can be made at some <br />later date. <br /> <br />27 <br />