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18 CLOUD SEEDING crease with the size of the target area of successful precipitation enhance- ment. These results stem from changes in the regional and national bal- ances of supply and demand. An increase in revenue for producers from added precipitation over time favors multiyear use of precipitation modi- fication technology over one year isolated use. However, it is cautioned that successful precipitation enhancement continued over several years may change production and technological responses within and outside the target areas, and thus change consumer and producer benefits (Garcia et al. 1990). The econometric models and crop response models are continually being improved. Experiments such as those that directly measure the effects of added rain on crops can reduce the uncertainty in inputs to and results from the models. Even so, it will always be true that different models applied to the same situation may give conflicting results. The guidance obtained from them is nonetheless much preferable to no guid- ance concerning the ultimate economic effects of adoption of a new technology. 2.2.2 Economic Aspects of Winter Cloud Seeding Winter cloud seeding to augment snowfall in high elevation areas is designed primarily to increase runoff for hydroelectricity and water supplies for lower elevation, semiarid areas. In this situation, the benefi- ciaries usually do not reside in the project area. Projects conducted to enhance winter sports activities are an exception. In either situation, the economic value of additional water can be calculated somewhat more readily than in cases in which crop response is directly involved. Managed water is normally assigned a value equal to the cost of obtaining it, storing it, transporting it to the region of use, and distribut- ing it to the users (Dennis 1980). However, water and electricity supply and demand also influence its value. Favorable effects on the net eco- nomic productivity of a hydroelectric utility system include more effi- cient use of storage capacity, a favorable change in the ratio of peak to average plant capacity, and a reduction in the overall capital intensity of the hydrogenerating system (Crutchfield 1969). Snowpack managed for the winter sports industry is used where it falls, and it directly benefits the many industries associated with skiing. The availability, and direct benefits and costs, of the managed additional snowpack or runoff will have ripple effects in other economic sectors. One might think that factors affecting the value of additional water would be the same throughout the western United States. However, there is actually considerable diversity in the factors that determine the cost and value of (added) water. 2.2.2.1 Arizona and Nevada. Arizona receives some 90% of its renew- able water supply from winter precipitation. This state relies on ground water for 40% of its water supply, even with the newly opened aqueduct provided by the Central Arizona Project. According to the Arizona De-