WMOD00392

• Contract/Permit #: 14-06-D-7659
• Title: Weather Modification Design Study for Streamflow Augmentation in the Northern Sierra Nevada
• Date: 7/1/1976
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

...

1.0 INTRODUCTION

-.

The Sierra Nevada of California has 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 increasing 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 nlanagement 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 effectivene s s.

As a first major step to establish the scientific 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 lly San DiegO~
State University to recommend the proper approaches andinvestigations for
thoroughly assessing the cnvironnlental impacts of snow enhancement and by a
series of meetings and correspondences by the U. S. B. R. to inform and involve
the public .in the proposed program. Concurrently with the design study, a
mllnber of environmental studies have been conducted to provide a comprehensive
picture of the impacts of such a program.

1