WMOD00305

• Title: Weather Modification Design Study for Streamflow Augmentation in the Northern Sierra Nevada - Volume 1
• Prepared For: US Dept. of Interior
• Prepared By: MBAssociates
• Date: 7/1/1976
• State: CA
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

1. 0 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMAR Y

II

The Sierra Nevada Mountains of California have been the focal
,point of many precipitation augmentation programs conducted by a variety of
federal, state, municipal, and private agencies over the past years. 'In fact,
the longest continuing operational weather modification program in the world
is conducted in these mountains. In recent years, the increasing demand
for water in California has focused attention on the possibility of enhancing
winter precipitation in the Sierra Nevada as a possible means of meeting
these increased demands.

.

While California possesses a substantial network of dams,
reservoirs, and other water Inanagement systems, the recent public concern
over the environment and the protection of wilderness and wildlife has made
the possibility of any substantial evolution and growth of the reservoir system
unlikely in the immediate future. Further, weather modification as an
alternative has suffered in that programs have not had sufficient supporting
research and evaluation to provide results significant enough to convince the
public of their effectiveness.

As a first major step to establish the sc ientuic and cost-
effectiveness credibility for the enhancement of water resources through
snowpack augmentation in the Sierra Nevada, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation
and the State of California Department of Water Resources sponsored the
Central Sierra Experiment (CENSARE). This project provided the much-
needed scientific foundations for the development of a physical basis of snow
augmentation in the Sierra Nevada.

....

This report, prepared for the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation,
presents the results of a Design Study for a Snow Enhancement Pilot Project
for the Sierra Nevada. This program was preceded by a study by San Diego
State University to recommend the proper approaches and investigations for
thoroughly assessing the environmental impacts of snow enhancement and by
a series of meetings and correspondences by the USBR to inform and involve
the public in the proposed program. Concurrently with the ,design study, a
number of environmental studies are being conducted to provide a compre-
hensive picture of the impacts of such a program.

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