Laserfiche WebLink
<br />SECTION VII. ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT, <br />AND LEGAL ISSUES <br /> <br />Environmental and Social Considerations <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br /># <br /> <br />The Office of Atmospheric Resources Management has established a <br />solid information base on the environmental and social effects of <br />precipitation management. The Project Skywater Programmatic Final <br />Environmental Statement was filed with the Council on Environmental <br />Quality, October 25, 1977. <br /> <br />The major portion of this environmental and social analysis has <br />applied to the precipitation management research mode, concentrating <br />on onsite effects in research project areas. For example, the <br />5-year, $l-million San Juan Ecology Study investigated and analyzed <br />onsite effects in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. <br /> <br />All environmental and social evaluations of the effects of precipita- <br />tion management have emphasized the distinction between short-term <br />research effects and the potential for larger-scale and unknown <br />effects resulting from long-term operational precipitation management. <br />There is a clear consensus that operational cloud seeding will <br />require a complete interdisciplinary analysis of offsite downstream <br />impacts. The eventual use of the water is the key factor in an <br />array of questions which include: effect on urban growth and its <br />attendant problems, potential for energy production, effects on <br />farming and irrigation practices, effect on water quality in the <br />Colorado River Basin, and similar effects in the adjoining, <br />carryover Missouri, Arkansas, and Rio Grande Basins. <br /> <br />The key scientific questions to be resolved in order to <br />environmental evaluation of an operational program are: <br />additional snowpack and streamflow will be produced, in <br />watersheds, and in what timeframe? <br /> <br />prepare an <br />how much <br />which <br /> <br />The key policy questions to be resolved for the most efficient <br />preparation of an environmental evaluation of an operational <br />program are: where will the water be used, and how? If these <br />questions cannot be answered specifically, the cost of the <br />evaluation will increase significantly to accommodate the require- <br />ment that all alternatives be examined completely. <br /> <br />Under the three-phase program suggested in this proposal, the <br />following agenda is suggested to meet statutory and regulatory <br />requirements: <br /> <br />VII-l <br />