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OOt118l1 On April 20, 1978, a meeting of Reclamation and State officials was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, to review the planning and research, and progress in the Colorado River region. Studies undertaken with the $600,000 by 1978 appropriation write-in to "prepare plans for the Colorado River Augmentat ion Program" were reviewed. The first formal public hearing on the Colorado River Augmentation Demonstration Program was held August 30, 1979, in Durango, Colorado, and was advertised and arranged by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Other early informal public reviews were by the Custer County Soil Conservation District, Westcliff, Colorado, October 1978; Pueblo Regional Planning Commission, Colorado City, Colorado, December 1978; and Routt and Jackson County Citizen Review Panel on Weather Modification, Steamboat Springs, April 1979. An important parallel public involvement activity in weather modifica- tion review was taking place at the same time through the Department of Commerce. Under Public Law 94-490, the "National Weather Modifica- tion Policy Act of 1976" a Weather Modification Advisory Board was appointed. Their charge was to "conduct a comprehensive investigation and study of the state of scientific knowledge concerning weather modification, the present state of development of weather modification technology, the problems impending effective implementation of weather modification and other related matters." Twelve meetings were held across the Nation and testimony from many Government officials, scientists, water users, and private citizens received. Their report to the Secretary of Commerce, "The Management of Weather Resources, Proposals for a National Policy and Program" was made June 30, 1979. This report concluded that winter orographic snowpack augmentation in the Rocky Mountains was most advanced and closest to broad-scale operational use, requiring only a confirmatory test prior to its impl ementat ion. The Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency Committee, the Upper Colorado River Commission, and each of the individual Basin States have called for accelerating plans to demonstrate the feasibility of augmenting Colorado River flow, and believe a decision on an operational cloud seeding program must be made in the 1990's in order to have a verified technology in place to prevent impending water shortages in the Basin. Following submission of the CREST proposal to Congress, public informa- tion and involvement activities will be conducted by Reclamation to ensure State and local interests are informed of the proposal, its goals, and ramifications; and to ensure that Reclamation's understanding of the public's attitudes and concerns is current and complete. This effort will include the establishment of three types of advisory committees: (1) a Basin group with specific interests in water manage- ment and compact (legal) questions, (2) local groups to be involved in site selection matters and community response, and (3) a scientific and technical group. The first group, a Basin States organization was established at the request of the Commissioner of Reclamation at a meeting with the States in December 1981. The other groups will be formed when CREST is approved. 39