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scientifically oriented project in the North Platte Basin or Rio Grande Basin to develop new techniques and cloud seeding systems. Weather modification research aimed at "increasing rainfall by cloud seeding" by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (now the Water and Power Resources Service), was authorized by Congress in the Public Works Appropriation Act of 1962 (Public Law 87-330). 2/ In similar manner, the Service was further directed in 1968 to "initiate pilot weather modification projects in connection with the atmospheric water resources research program." ~/ Legal opinions of July 13, 1966, and December 30, 1971, from the Department of the Interior Associate Solicitor uphold the Service's authority to conduct atmospheric water resources research. In 1977, the Service was specifically directed and funded to "prepare plans for the Colorado River Augmentation Program." !!./ Also in 1977, under the Emergency Drought Act (Public Law 95-18, as amended), the Service allocated over $2 million to six states for supplemental support of their operational cloud seeding projects, including a total of over $1 million to the States of Colorado and Utah for winter cloud seeding in the Colorado River Basin. In addition, Project Skywater provides technical assistance, computer system support, and equipment loans to operational weather modifica- tion programs through cooperative agreements with state agencies and local users. 11-3 The growing recognition of the value of weather modification as a water resources management tool of the Department of the Interior in critically water-short areas is also reflected in a recent con- gressional recommendation: "Further, the Committee recognizes the importance of the development of weather modification as a means of mitigating drought in semi-arid regions of the United States. The Committee recommends that the Water and Power Resources Service allocate $1,000,000 from within the total resources available to the Service to conduct rain augmentation research in the southwest in areas where drought patterns are developing." 2/ Congress provided a $600,000 write-in in FY 1978 and $500,000 in FY 1979 to implement planning for the Colorado River Augmentation Program. The FY 1978 appropriation funded a series of exploratory scientific background studies with two primary objectives: (a) to provide additional scientific input to the early planning decisions and design studies, and (b) to develop and test various coordination working arrangements between state and local groups and Project Skywater, such as the research-operational activities in Colorado and Utah. Digital research radar and airborne particle measuring systems were used for the first time on winter atmospheric studies over the Uinta Mountains during this period.