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<br />Weather Damage Modification Program 4 <br /> <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br /> <br />latitude cyclonic storms that frequent the area during the winters. Additional water into the <br />Bradbury Dam/Cachuma Lake facilities becomes drinking water for residents of the south coast <br />of Santa Barbara County and Santa Ynez valley, aids groundwater recharge, and enhances <br />wildlife habitat. Additional water into the Twitchell Dam/Santa Maria project provides <br />groundwater recharge for the over-drafted Santa Maria basin, as well as direct benefit to <br />agriculture, for vegetable crops are grown there year round. <br /> <br />Enhanced rainfall plays a critical role in the mitigation of cyclical droughts such as occurred <br />1987-1991. As well, during periods of 'normal' rainfall, increased supplies are allocated to <br />environmental enhancement purposes, for example supporting preservation and enhancement of <br />the endangered Steelhead Trout. <br /> <br />The foci of this proposed research program will be to: <br /> <br />· Build on the Santa Barbara II research program, elucidating the unknowns in the chain <br />of events through modem tracing techniques, chemistry, modem microphysical cloud <br />measurements, and modeling. <br /> <br />· Verify the Santa Barbara 11 statistical conclusions that suggest that releasing ice nuclei <br />into convective bands increases precipitation in desired areas downwind. <br /> <br />· Fine-tune and evolve the SBCW A program to maximize benefits. <br /> <br />We believe that this approach towards the advancement of understanding of weather <br />modification activities will give us and the scientific community better understanding and <br />information that will aid many agencies exploring drought mitigation measures. <br /> <br />1.2 History <br /> <br />~u <br />~ <br /> <br />Santa Barbara County has been involved in both research and operational cloud seeding <br />programs that date back to the 1950s. Notable activities within the County are summarized in <br />Table 1. The most recent research program, Santa Barbara II, was conducted by North American <br />Weather Consultants (NA WC) in the County in the late 1960s and early 1970s, through funding <br />provided by the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake. This research provided evidence of the <br />ability to increase precipitation from "convective bands" embedded in general winter storms <br />passing over Santa Barbara County. These bands were found to be common features of Pacific <br />coastal storms (Elliott and Hovind 1964). The results and the basic design used in the conduct of <br />the Santa Barbara II program were utilized by NA WC in conducting operational cloud seeding <br />programs that began in the County in 1981. These programs continued through the 1996-97 <br />season. <br /> <br />l1~ ( - ~ r <br />