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24 CLOUD SEEDING organization or enterprise conducting or proposing to conduct the opera- tions. This view does not imply that private enterprise or other individual or collective sponsoring organizations have no role in providing cloud seeding services. It simply means that a thorough economic evaluation of cloud seeding must involve calculated socioeconomic costs and benefits much more comprehensive than those that may be appropriate concerns for the private operator or sponsoring organization (Crutchfield 1969). Thus, appropriate measures of the economic aspects of cloud seeding depend on point of view and scale of the operation. Many levels of sophistication are possible in projecting the economic effects, and many grey areas of compromise may need to be considered in dealing with these effects. Further, the economics of cloud seeding should be weighed in perspective with that of other alternatives for enhancing water re- sources. Economic analyses for the adoption of cloud seeding technology in specific situations do offer guidance not only for vested stakeholders but also for those likely to be affected less directly. 2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS The management of any natural resource, including precipitation, leads to potential ecological changes. Therefore, potential ecosystem changes resulting from increased interactions of precipitation and cloud seeding materials with the environment must be addressed in weather modification projects. Several factors that complicate easy identification and quantification of cloud seeding effects on the environment are dis- cussed here. A brief history of the research on ecological effects of weather modification shows the motivation for pertinent studies. The pertinent concept of cumulative effects is explained. Two case studies are examined that deal with current issues; these exemplify research on ecological impacts of cloud seeding, and environmental impact docu- mentation for a prototype snowpack augmentation program. 2.3.1 Historical Perspective Several federally funded, multiyear ecology projects have provided vitally needed information on environmental processes that goes beyond the immediate topic of cloud seeding effects on precipitation. The pro- jects included the Medicine Bow Ecology Project (Knight et al. 1975), San Juan Ecology Project (Steinhoff and Ives 1976), Unita Ecology Project (Harper 1981), and Sierra Ecology Project (Berg and Smith 1980; Berg 1988). All dealt exclusively with cloud seeding for snowpack enhance- ment and all were located in the western United States. A Project Skywa- ter impact assessment included environmental aspects of increased summertime convective rainfall (USDI 1977a). Other landmark docu- ments include a technological assessment of winter orographic snowpack augmentation in the Upper Colorado River Basin (Weisbecker 1974), a