WMOD00281

• Title: The Impacts of Snow Enhancement - Technology Assessment of Winter Orographic Snowpack Augmentation in the Upper Colorado River Basin
• Date: 1/1/1974
• State: CO
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

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Many small scale experiments have been conducted in which
winter clouds have been seeded to increase the snowfall in the
high mountain areas of the Western United States. When the
augmented snowpack melts in the springtime, it produces addi-
tional runoff that in turn is used to produce hydroelectric power
as well as additional water for agricultural, municipal, and indus-
trial uses. Now the Bureau of Reclamation is conducting a pilot
project in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado to evaluate the
effectiveness of this new technology. At the end of this five-year
evaluation program, the Bureau will be prepared to implement
a large scale Winter Orographic Snowpack Augmentation
(WOSA) program throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin.

Many people are becoming increasingly concerned over the
possible exploitation of technology without adequate provisions
for alleviating undesirable side effects. Both houses of Congress
are asking for reliable information on all the implications of
pending programs. Consequently, the National Science Founda-
tion has initiated a Technology Assessment Program to develop
the techniques of technology assessment and to perform such
assessments in selected problem areas. Contracted under this
program, Stanford Research Institute's technc"ogy assessment
of WOSA consists of:

· A cost/effectiveness analysis of WOSA based on the cur-
rent state of the art in snowpack augmentation.

· An estimate of the improvement in costs and benefits that
might be achieved within the next five years through im-
provements in the state of the art of snowpack augmenta-
tion.

(Continued on inside back cover)