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<br />SECTION 1 - SUMMARY <br /> <br />Robert D. Elliott, Member ASCEl <br /> <br />1.1 INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />Cloud seeding technology has developed over the last <br />30 years as a means for augmenting precipitation in regions <br />where such augmentation is viewed as an economic asset. The <br />augmentation possible is fractional, and where successful, <br />is in the range of 5 to 20%; however, this much addition over <br />the farm belt would be helpful to agriculture, and over mountainous <br />terrain to the hydroelectric power industry and to irrigation <br />interests. More recently a perceived wider interaction of <br />this augmentation with the environment and with society in <br />general has brought new issues into focus. Because the smallest <br />possible scale of treatment covers several hundred square <br />kilometers, it has been necessary to develop some kind of <br />a public consensus within an inten?ed target area. In a farm <br />area having mixed crops, many farmers might benefit from enhanced <br />precipitation, while others might not. In a mountainous region <br />where hydroelectric power generation would be greatly benefited, <br />traffic over mountain passes might be impaired, while ski <br />resorts might be aided. In order to provide rational presentations <br />of all of the implications (at public meetings), a number <br />of scientific studies of these varied impacts have been conducted. <br />Section 2 on "Social and Environmental Issues" explores these <br />interesting problems and presents solutions that have been <br /> <br />lChief Scientist, North American Weather Consultants, 1141 East <br />3900 South, Suite A-130, Salt Lake City, Utah 84117 <br /> <br />1 <br />