WMOD00593

• Contract/Permit #: 14-06-D-7052
• Title: Ecological Impacts of Snowpack Augmentation in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado
• Date: 3/1/1976
• State: CO
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

CHAPTER HI
RESEARCH METHODS AND RECOMMENDATIONS !!
Nel Caine ~/, Jane H. Bock, and H. W. Steinhoff

INTRODUCTION

This chapter is a post-fact? evaluation of the San
Juan Ecology Project (SJEP) I intended to meet the con-
tractual requirement to "develop a methodology for
continuing ecological impact studies elsewhere." It
benefits from the separate evaluation of research
needs in assessing the environmental impact of
snowfall augmentation made tecently by Cooper et al.
(1974). We outline the research and administrative
procedures used in SJEP and I indicate those that were
found useful, as well as others that were not so
useful. The chapter also iricludes brief consider-
ation of research topics th~t were not included in
the project but which now s~em of greater impor-
tance than they did in 1970j at the inception of
the San Juan Ecology Projec~. One objective of this
evaluation is to make the experience of SJEP inves-
tigators available to ecolo~ists concerned with the
impacts of snowfall augmentation in other areas.
We do not intend to construct a set of guidelines
to constrain other researchers since work at other
times and places will probably involve different
problems than those faced i~ SJEP.
I
The San Juan Ecology Project was subject to a number
of constraints. Some of thJse derive from its
geographic and historical c9ntext and are bound to
influence an internal evaluation of the project.
Therefore, it is useful at tihe outset to summarize
the important controlling f~atures of SJEP.
I

1. The project was intendeq to evaluate the poten-
tial impacts of snowpac~ augmentation produced
by cloud seeding over a Iwide mountain area.

2. The target area of-cloud seeding, where
ecological work was concentrated, was un-
developed. The populated area of the western
San Juan Mountains was temoved from the target
area before seeding sta~ted in 1970 (Figure 1,
Chapter 1). Within the :target area defined at
that time, there was no 'resident population and
only one all-season road. A large part of the
area is now (1976) designated wilderness within
the Weminuche Wilderness,.

3. The increase in snowfall, was predicted to be
15 percent during the p~lot study and would be
30 percent under operati'onal cloud seeding. Any
increase would be imposed on a natural snowpack
with high annual variabi~ity.

4. Only selected terrestriat ecosystems were
studied in the project. :

5. The level of funding thr6ughout the life of the
project was about $200,OPO per year.

6. The research was conduct~d through local
(Colorado) institutions:: University of Colorado
(CU); Colorado State University (CSU); and
Fort Lewis College (FLC)',.

7. The research group had not previously worked
together as a team.

In evaluating the experience gained in SJEP, three
scales of consideration are used here. First, over-
all project operation and administration are con-
sidered. Second are comments on the general
approaches to environmental research which are
applicable to this kind of impact evaluation.
Finally, more specific research procedures and
recommendations make up the last part of the chapter.
The final section includes only those procedures
which apply to a number of different subprojects in
SJEP; approaches without this level of generality
are left to the individual reports of Chapter IV.
More detailed discussion of some of the topics in-
troduced in the last part of this chapter can also
be found in the subproject reports of Chapter IV.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Since environmental research involves scientists from
different disciplines with varying interests, ad-
ministrative problems of cooperation and coordination
often occur. These problems may be minimized when
all researchers are from the same institution or
have worked together previously; however, the San
Juan Ecology Project did not have either of these
advantages at its inception. The project was con-
ducted through three university-type institutions.-
This separation resulted in fiscal and political
tension in the early days of the project and had a
continuing influence on its administration. SJEP
never experienced a single, central authority;
instead, the project was operated through a coordi-
nator, ~wo team leaders, and a steering committee.
The problems associated with the administrative
structure discussed here are the administration
of SJEP, project planning and priorities, and
scientific cooperation.

The results of a questionnaire administered to 'SJEP
investigators and administrators in mid-1975 by
Dr. Douglas A. Benton and Dr. James R. Meiman of
Colorado State University are widely used in this
chapter (NSF grant NM-444-11 to Dr. D. A. Benton).*
Benton and Meiman made tabulated results from the
questionnaire responses available to us; the inter-
pretation and evaluation of the results made here
are our own responsibility. To suit ~resent needs,
the sequence of questions has occasionally been
changed and this may account for some apparent
inconsistency in the results. The tabulated
responses to the questionnaire summarize subjective
perceptions of the project held by the personnel
working on it. Nevertheless, there is often a
surprising level of consensus in the responses.

*A sample questionnaire is included as Appendix A
to this chapter.

1/ In Steinhoff, Harold W. arid Jack D. Ives (Eds.) 1976. Ecological Impacts of Snowpack Augmentation in the
San Juan Mountains, Color~do. Final Report, San Juan Ecology Project, Colorado State University Publ.,
Fort Collins.
~/ Present Address: INSTAAR; University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309.

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