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OJJ157 V. CREST OBJECTIVES Most of the flow of the Colorado River originates from seasonal snowpack in the alpine and subalpine watersheds above 9,000 feet where winter precipita- tion amounts are high and evapotranspiration losses are low due to lower temperatures. The contribution to the total Bdsin runoff by summer precipi- tation is small in comparison with winter snowfall. Six major runoff-producing areas in the Colorado River Basin have been identified as candidates for snowpack augmentation by cloud seeding in the CREST Program (fig. 1). The total affected area of 30,200 square miles includes 22,600 square miles of high-water yield areas with the Basin. Five of the areas are in the Upper Colorado River Basin and produce 75 percent of the total Basin's water supply. These areas, encompassing about 13,000 square miles within the Basin or about 12 percent of the total Upper Basin area, include the mountains of the Upper Green River in Wyoming; the Uinta Mountains of Utah; the Park Range, central Colorado; and San Juan Mountains of Colorado. The central Colorado mountains can be further sub- divided into the White River Plateau, the Grand Mesa, the Gunnison, and the Upper Central Colorado watershed areas. The Mogollon Rim in the Lower Colorado River Basin, has an area of 10,800 square miles with about 9,600 square miles, within the Basin. It is the sixth major runoff-producing area. Approximately 91 percent of the five major areas in the Upper Basin and 80 percent of the sixth area in the Lower Basin are public lands (fig. 2). CREST is designed to address all aspects of precipitation management through cloud seeding and provide the information upon which a decision to proceed with a Basin-wide operational program can be based. The five objectives of CREST are: - Production of water - Demonstration of technology - Quantification of increases - Assessment of impacts - Minimization of risks A. Production of Water CREST will be conducted to produce the highest possible amount of water from cloud seeding during the demonstration tests. Program design cri- teria have been established which favor water production and, at the same time, permit achievement of the other CREST objectives during the 8-year program. B. Oemonstration of Technology The Program will confirm and demonstrate cloud seeding technology and establish operational procedures that are applicable to the cloud charac- teristics and topography of all potential high-yield areas in the Basin. This will allow its use Basin-wide if a decision is made to proceed with an operational program. An analysis of the cost of operations will be made based on the most cost-effective system for operational application. 15