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<br />. <br /> <br />There is no reason to believe that cloud seeding would significantly or <br />adversely affect atmospheric humidity, existing variations in cloudiness <br />, <br /> <br />and sunshine, the length of the winter season, or the air quality of <br />the Basin. The potential for impacts on these elements has been <br />discussed at length in both the Project Skywater Programmatic Final <br />Environmental Statement [2] and the Sierra Cooperative Pilot Project <br />Environmental Assessment [8]. Both documents concluded that cloud <br /> <br />seeding produced no effect on these weather elements, or that the <br /> <br />effect was not significant. <br /> <br />b. Impacts on Hydrologic and Physiographic Phenomena <br /> <br />The 5-year San Juan Ecology Project included investigations of the <br /> <br />effect of increased snowfall on snowpack, avalanches, erosion, and <br /> <br />physiographic features of the area. In the report, liThe Influence of <br /> <br />Snow and Increased Snowfall on Contemporary Geomorphic Processes in <br /> <br />Alpine Areas," Caine states: <br /> <br />"Five years of observations in two l-km2 alpine basins are <br />used here to estimate the impact of increased snowfall on <br /> <br />erosion above treeline in the San Juan Mountains. Two <br /> <br />distinct approaches, differentiating the direct impacts <br />(those involving only the snowpack and erosion) and the <br />indirect ones (involving other components of the ecosystem <br />as intermediaries between the snowpack and erosion), are the <br /> <br />basis of the study. <br /> <br />liThe comparison of seasonal erosion rates and amounts suggests <br /> <br />that the snowpack has relatively little direct effect on alpine <br /> <br />20 <br />