Augmentation of the Colorado River through Weather Modification April 29 1982

• Description: Augmentation of the Colorado River through Weather Modification April 29 1982
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 4/28/1982
• Author: Broadbent, Robert
• Title: Augmentation of the Colorado River through Weather Modification April 29 1982
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Meeting

3. The CREST Program
Six major runoff - producing areas in the Colorado River Basin have been
targeted as candidates for snowpack augmentation by cloud seeding in
the CREST program. Five of the areas are in the Upper Colorado River
Basin and naturally produce 75 percent of the total basin's water supply.
These areas, encompassing about 13,000 square miles (approximately
12 percent of the total upper basin area) of which approximately 91
percent are Federal lands, include the mountains of the Upper Green River
in Wyoming, the Uinta Mountains of Utah, and the Park Range, Central
Colorado, and San Juan Mountains of Colorado. The Mogollon Rim in the
Lower Colorado River Basin, covering about 9600 square miles of
which about 80 percent is Federal lands, is the sixth major runoff -
producing area.
Confirmation .of the capability of cloud seeding to augment the Colorado
River in the CREST is planned as an 8 -year program costing $68.5 million.
The program will be conducted.in two phases - a 3 -year preparatory phase
to establish field sites, purchase and install equipment, adapt and
refine existing seeding technology into an executable demonstration design
for two representative major runoff - producing areas, initiate concurrent
studies in the other high potential areas to facilitate transferability
of seeding techniques and results, and initiate environmental reporting
and public involvement activities; and a 5 -year demonstration phase
involving randomized physical- statistical demonstration experiments in
the two representative runoff- producing areas. Two areas will be subjected
to a demonstration experiment in order to adequately test the effects of
seeding on each of the two classes of cloud systems that have been identified
as candidates for precipitation increase in the Basin.
The demonstration program will accomplish three major objectives to provide
the information upon which a decision to proceed with a basinwide opera-
tional program can be based:
1. Confirm the technology and establish operational procedures that
are applicable to the cloud characteristics and topography of each
of the six high yield areas.
1)