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<br />effect from weather modification has indicated no clearly adverse <br />effects, emphasis on hurry-up studies to ward off imagined catas- <br />trophes, such as species extinctions, no longer appears justified. <br />Second, assessment of long-term effects of weather modification on <br />the environment as a whole is assuming relatively greater impor- <br />tance, and means for such assessment are under review.1I [13, <br />pp. 499-500] <br /> <br />Thus, it is apparent now that long-term monitoring of operational cloud <br />seeding effects is needed to develop a rel iable picture of environmental <br />effects. Responses of the vegetative regime are of particular interest <br />because of its comparative sensitivity and its key place in the food chain. <br /> <br />Certain results of cloud seeding, such as increased snowpack, can be signif- <br />icant and beneficial rather than adverse due to the controlling factors of <br />the project design and project suspension criteria. Project suspension <br />criteria precludes cloud seeding activity during weather conditions that <br />could jeopardize public safety or cause environmental damage. A recent <br />example of development of a suspension criteria system for a winter cloud <br />seeding project is the experience in the Sierra Cooperative Pilot Project. <br />[8, 11] <br /> <br />1. The Initial Phase <br /> <br />As described in Section II of this report, each of the three cloud seeding <br />options has two phases. In each case, the initial phase involves installa- <br />tion of meteorological observation and data collection networks. Seeding <br />opportunity, climatological studies, seeding mode studies, ground-based <br />seeding studies, and technology transfer studies in different subbasins <br /> <br />17 <br />