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<br />PURPOSE <br /> <br />The purpose of this study is to assess procedures and estimate costs <br />of removing snow from county highways in the mountains and on the Western <br />Slope of Colorado. The study, conduct,ed by the Weather Mxlification <br />Program of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, was undertaken <br />because commissioners and citizens of some counties have expressed concern <br />that weather modification increases costs of snow removal. <br /> <br />THE PROBLEM IN PERSPECTIVE <br /> <br />Colorado's expanding population and industry have placed increasing <br />demands on the state' 5 supplies of water. Problems caused by water <br />shortages are most acute during periods of low snowfall in the mountains <br />because runoff from melting mountain snowpack typically provides <br />approximately 70 percent of the state's water. For example, when snowfall <br />in most mountain areas was far below normal in 1976-77 and 1980-81, <br />several sectors of the state's economY--particularly the ski <br />industry--were affected severely. <br /> <br />In the spring of 1977 and the following winter, local water-user <br />agencies and the state of Colorado sponsored weather modification (cloud <br />seeding) in the Colorado mountains for drought relief. Each winter since <br />then, ski areas, water-users, and local governments and businesses have <br />funded seeding programs to augment mountain snowpack. <br /> <br />-1- <br />