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<br />IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS <br /> <br />Summary of Major Findings <br /> <br />This paper has introduced the history of WxMod with its authorities, agencies involved, <br />ongoing programs, and policy statements from organizations involved in the discipline. <br />A description of programs in operation, issues facing the science, and questions about its <br />effectiveness have been given. Finally, different approaches were identified and their <br />applicability to the Basin States examined. <br /> <br />Although there is no clear cause-and-effect relationship between seeding a specific cloud <br />and resultant precipitation in a specific location as proven by scientific method, there is a <br />sufficiently large body of evidence to indicate that WxMod is an effective tool for <br />precipitation augmentation. There is ample information on the uncertainties, risks, and <br />benefit-to-cost ratios of WxMod, which must be weighed in the development of a <br />program. <br /> <br />The success of the WxMod programs currently in operation in Colorado and Utah are <br />demonstrated by the continuing support of the most common project sponsors - ski areas, <br />water authorities, and agricultural users. <br /> <br />The ongoing as well as previously proposed projects in these states and the authority and <br />expertise of Reclamation, provide knowledge that can be leveraged in the future <br />development of a WxMod program. This paper identifies several different approaches <br />for further consideration. <br /> <br />Although more research should be conducted on the specific cause-and-effect <br />relationships between cloud seeding and additional water on the ground, it is believed <br />that cloud seeding has reached the point that a well designed and managed program with <br />a proper evaluation component can be implemented to produce cost-effective water <br />resources benefits. The additional water can help to satisfy increasing demands and <br />potentially reduced precipitation due to inadvertent weather modification, increased water <br />demands, and natural drought cycles in the West. <br /> <br />Recommendations <br /> <br />There are several good reasons for the Basin States to continue research on this topic, <br />besides the endorsements of the NRC and WMA. One of the most important is the 2000- <br />2004 Colorado River Basin drought. Others are a general trend toward reduction in <br />snowpack and increased water demands, and the growing concern about reductions in <br />precipitation due to inadvertent anthropogenic modification to weather (especially air <br />pollution and global warming). Factors to consider in deciding how to proceed are that: <br />new projects take 1-3 years to plan; plauning is relatively inexpensive; there is a real need <br />for research and project funding; these projects are very cost-effective, and there are <br />existing programs with data that can be leveraged. <br /> <br />-29- <br />