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<br />003184 <br /> <br />1. INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />This section discusses the need for additional water in the Colorado River Basin, weather <br />modification as a viable alternative for enhancing water supplies, the purpose and overview of <br />the proposed research program, and Reclamation (Bureau of Reclamation) authority for <br />pursuing weather modification investigations. <br /> <br />1.1 Need for Additional Water <br /> <br />Data compiled by the GS (Geological Survey) shows that between 1950 and 1980, per capita <br />water consumption in the United States, as measured by total withdrawals, almost doubled! <br />This finding is especially significant in light of recent severe water shortages in the West. <br />Although the wise use of our water resources is an important national issue, it is vitally <br />important in the arid West served by Reclamation. A 1989 report by the Bureau of the Census <br />projected that by the year 2010, one-third of all Americans will live in the 17 States west of the <br />Mississippi River, the region served by Reclamation. <br /> <br />The staff of the House Appropriations Committee recently stated that "water is the most <br />serious, long range problem now confronting the nation-potentially more serious than the <br />energy crisis." This Nation must become wiser and better at water resources management to <br />meet future water needs. Conservation must be a part of our response to water shortages. But <br />conservation alone will not meet all our needs. It is unlikely, for example, to solve water quality <br />problems. <br /> <br />i <br /> <br />r: <br /> <br />The Western States have been experiencing yet another dry period, which continued for 6 yr in <br />some regions. Frequent storm passages during the 1992-93 winter have eased or ended drought <br />conditions in some areas, but other areas will require a number of years with above average <br />precipitation to fully return to normal. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Periodic droughts are to be expected in the West, Pronounced natural climatic changes have <br />been postulated by reconstruction of droughts in the Southwest over the past 450 yr. Tree rings <br />and other data have suggested past droughts which were longer and more severe than any <br />experienced this century. The need for new water supplies will be particularly acute if climatic <br />change associated with the greenhouse effect results in a drier West as predicted by some <br />numerical climate models. <br /> <br />Increased population will further strain already limited water supplies. Therefore, all <br />reasonable options for enhancing the West's water supply should be seriously examined, <br />including weather modification, commonly called cloud seeding. <br /> <br />1.2 Cloud Seeding as a Water Augmentation Option <br /> <br />Cloud seeding has been applied for diverse purposes, including rainfall and snowfall <br />augmentation and hail suppression. In this report, the meaning of the term "cloud seeding" is <br />limited to attempts to increase snowfall and runoff from mountain regions. <br /> <br />Cloud seeding cannot solve all the problems noted above. However, a well tested and validated <br />technology can offer an important, cost-effective tool for water resources management. Cloud <br />seeding is one of few nonstructural alternatives for increasing water supplies. Cloud seeding <br /> <br />1 <br />