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<br />~: 'i <br /> <br />COLORADO RIVER BASIN PILOT PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> <br />1. OVERVIEW <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin Pilot Project (CRBPP) was a five-year winter <br />research program conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation to help determine the <br />feasibility of augmenting high mountain snowpacks in the San Juan Mountains <br />of southwestern Colorado by cloud seeding, and thereby enhance spring and <br />summer runoff into the Colorado River Basin. Actual seeding activities in <br />the field were completed in April 1975. <br /> <br />Previous experimentation by Colorado State University near Climax, <br />Colorado, during the 1960's had identified conditions under which clouds <br />seeded with silver iodide would produce more snow than similar, untreated <br />clouds. The purpose of the CRBPP was to determine whether the experimental <br />procedure applied at Climax would be effective in an operational mode. The <br />objectives were two-fold:. 1) to test the physical concepts of weather modi- <br />fication potential, and 2) to test the practical weather modification poten- <br />tial for an operational technology in the continental weather systems that' <br />bring snow to the San Juans. <br /> <br />Closely related research programs on the possible environmental effects <br />of winter cloud seeding paralleled the CREPP. Detailed findings are re- <br />ported by Colorado State Universityl and the University of Colorado2 from <br />the San Juan Ecology Project and the San Juan Avalanche Project, respectively. <br /> <br />The region chosen for the CRBPP covered nearly 3400 km2 (1300 mi2) of <br />sparsely populated mountainous terrain east and northeast of Durango, Colorado. <br />Elevations extended from above 2750 meters to 4200 meters. Starting on the <br /> <br />1 <br />Steinhoff, H. W. and J. D. Ives, 1976: Ecological Impacts of Snowpack <br />Augmentation in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Final report, Colorado <br />State University, Ft. Collins, Co. <br />2 <br /> <br />Armstrong, R. L. and J. D. Ives, 1976: Avalanche Release and Snow <br />Characteristics, San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Occasional Paper No. 19, <br />Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, Co. <br /> <br />-1- <br />