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<br />Some businesses, such as the ski industry which employs <br />full-time and seasonal workers, could enjoy longer periods <br />of operation. For example, the town of Vail, Colorado, employs <br />17,500 seasonal employees, and shortages of snow on the slopes <br />severely impacts employment. The ski industry accounts for <br />almost one-third of Colorado's tourist trade, and layoffs <br />have a definite impact on the state's economy. <br /> <br />Reduction in incomes may occur from short periods of <br />downtime resulting from severe storms while long-term downtime <br />might cause firms to close or move. A frequently expressed <br />concern of residents in project ~reas is that more snow will <br />mean greater snow removal costs. However, it has been found <br />to be very difficult to assess the cost of removing an additional <br />increment of snow. The major costs for equipment and manpower <br />are generally fixed for any given area with the expectation <br />of removing snowfall within a r,ange of depths. When cloud <br />seeding is used to increase snowf~ll in near average or below <br />average precipitation years, the increases fall within the <br />range covered by the fixed costs. A study by the California <br />Department of Transportation (3) supports"this conclusion. <br />Projects designed to increase snowfall in years having snow <br />depths significantly above average probably would not be licensed <br />by the state. <br /> <br />Benefits may be determined for increased hydropower gener- <br />ation, salinity reduction, and increased water supplies for <br />fish and wildlife, recreation. municipal, industrial, and <br />agricultural users. Estimates of benefits can be made by <br />determining the cost of meeting the requirements by alternative <br />methods. <br /> <br />2-7 <br />