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WEATHER MODIFICATION w~stern United States, it seems desirable to increase this water supply if it is possible. It appears that a fuU.scale effort might increase the yearly water supply in the Colorado by 2.3 million acre-feet (enough to cover 2.3 million acres with one foot of water). . .. Experiments have shown that the kinds of clouds that pro- duce winter season snowfall in the high mountain ranges in the West can be seeded with a chemical smoke under certain con- ditions to increase the snowfall. Clouds that form in mountain- ous regions are cal~ed . orographic. These. orographic clouds result when moist air masses from the Pacific Ocean are cooled as they are driven up over the rnountainsby prevailing easterly winds. We have named the process of augmenting the snow that accumulates in the mountains during the winter Winter Orographic SnoWpack WOSA . The Colorado River Basin Pilot Project is carefully de- signed to providehigh quality data concerning WOSA.Four to sixwinterSQf clouds~edingare expected tQ prQvide this kind of result. If the results are as favorable as many expect them to be, WOSA will most likely be expanded to the remainder of the favorable areas in the UpperColotado River Basin within a few more years. There are also many other locations in: the West .whereit is possible to incr.ease the snowpack by cloud seeding. Since the desire for additional water supplies for irrigation, in- dustrial, and muriicipal use is also widespread in theWest, a sUccessful operational WOSA pfogram in the Upper Colorado River Basin could be expected soon to expand to most of the suitable locations (see Figure 2) . WOSA or It seems almost a natural reflex to applaud and approve another attempt to improve on nature and create new water supplies, but more and more people today are expressing. second thoughts. Augmentation, Is a MixedBlessing SNOWPACK, CLOUD-SEEDING, AND THE COLORADO RIVER . AREAS OF MAJOR RUNOFF CJ:J MAJOR OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS 0 AVERAGE ANNUAL RUNOFF- INCHES Fig. 2. Locations In the West where WOSA can be conducted and early summer, the snow melts rapidly, causing the streams to rise. As the stored supply of snow is depleted, streamflow subsides. Summer rain in the mountains does not contribute much water to the streams. Therefore, if the winter snowfall in the high mountains can be increased, there will be more water in the streams of the Upper Colorado River Basin. Since the Colorado River supplies water to a large part of the arid South- 6 ~ .~..~..! . 'j . J I / (\~~th:)O timH,li,HY E~ureau of f.:,;~cll Denver . 7 - , t