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2 <br />acknowledged the essential role the Reclamation program has <br />played in developing and sustaining the prosperity of the <br />West, and has voiced its support in a number of ways for the <br />Reclamation program and the Bureau of Reclamation. Within <br />the Bureau itself, morale is good and strong, our profes- <br />sionalism is being recognized and supported, and, in my opinion, <br />the institutional and political components of the Bureau are <br />pretty well in harmony with each other. <br />The population of the West and the water demands of the West <br />are continuing to grow while precipitation levels remain <br />fairly constant. Ground water is being used up much faster <br />than nature can replenish it. Conservation helps, but not <br />enough to meet all present and future demands. The only <br />practical solution is more storage and distribution capacity <br />to make maximum effective use of surface water resources. <br />And, where it is authorized and economically justified, we <br />are prepared to develop means of augmenting existing water <br />supplies through technologies such as weather modification. <br />To provide additional water resources for this region we <br />have proposed the Colorado River Enhanced Snowpack Test <br />(CREST), an 8 -year program to confirm the capability of cloud <br />seeding to augment the Colorado River. CREST will cost $68.5 <br />million (1981 dollars). <br />