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<br />3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CONSIDERATIONS <br /> <br />3. 1 <br /> <br />General <br /> <br />A study to determine investigations required for asseSSlnent of <br />the environmental impact of snow augmentation in the Sierra Nevada was <br />recently conducted by the San Diego State University (Cooper, et al., 1974). <br />This study, under the sponsorship of the United States Bureau of Reclamation <br />and the California Department of Water Resources, recommended 26 areas of <br />investigation, one of which is negative and one of which is beyond the scope of <br />the present sh1.dy. The negative recommendation will not be discussed further <br />since positive alternatives completely encompassing the subject area are <br />included among the others. <br /> <br />The recommendations provided by the study can be generally <br />classified as meteorological, hydrological, biological, or sociological in <br />nature. All but one of the meteorological and all of the hydrological recommenda- <br />tions are addressed directly by this report. All of the biological and sociological <br />investigations require results of this study as input. The following sections <br />discuss tho se results applicable to the recommendations in each area. <br /> <br />3.2 <br /> <br />Meteorological Considerations <br /> <br />There were nine recommended meteorological investigations <br />presented in the San Diego State report. Of these, one was global in nature, <br />related to a large number of programs, and substantially beyond the scope of <br />this study. The other eight are restated in the following paragraphs, and a <br />general discussion of the results relating to each follows. <br /> <br />- ' <br /> <br />3.2.1 <br /> <br />Precipitation <br /> <br />. A thorough study should be made to predict the expected <br />spatial pattern of incremental additions of snow in the Sierra Nevada. This <br />study should utilize the best available meteorological, snowmelt, and snow <br />accumulation models. It should consider both mesoscale (basin-to-basin, <br />elevation) and miscroscale (drift pattern) effects. <br /> <br />. Research, based on evaluation of past records, should be <br />carried out to predict the expected increases in rain as well as snow at various <br />elevations. An assessment should also be made to determine whether the <br />augmentation program will result in any significant change in the consistency <br />or textur e of snow. <br /> <br />7 <br />