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~ (' ~.~ 1-, luJ ~l pressures and with a geothermal fluid production of 200,000 aflyr. Costs are not mentioned in the report, but it is believed that the cost of desalted geothermal water would be in the $400-600 per acre-foot range. The Bureau of Reclamation in June 1977 increased the wholesale rates for commercial hydroelectric power sold by the Parker-Davis Project by about 10 percent to customers in Arizona, southern Nevada, and southern California, The new firm demand charge will be $1,39 I kw I mo, and the energy charge will be increased to 3.5 mills per kilowatt-hour. Studies conducted in 1975 showed that revenues from commercial power sales needed to be increased in order to meet operating costs and repayment of capital investment within payout periods as prescribed by reclamation law, The draft EIS for the Coachella Canal Replacement was reviewed. There were no comments, but it was noted that the Colorado River Board endorses this project. The Bureau of Reclamation began a study in 1977 of the feasibility of increasing the generating capability at the Hoover Powerplant including replacement of the existing units, modifications to the existing units, adding more units, or adding reversible pumpback units for peaking power generation. Weather Modification Activities A review was made of a report by a private consulting firm which made a comprehensive evaluation of the pilot cloud-seeding project undertaken by the Bureau of Reclamation in the San Juan Mountains during five winter seasons ending in 1975. The report concluded that a correctly-designed and operated cloud-seeding program could increase precipitation over the seeded areas by an average of 10 percent and increase resulting streamflows by 19 percent. The Bureau of Reclamation has been planning a large-scale cloud-seeding demonstration project that would cover most of the major tributary watersheds to the Colorado River and utilize the knowledge gained in the five-year pilot project. 14 The demonstration project would be undertaken in phases of a ten-year period of operations in each of the five major watersheds, with staggered beginning and ending times for each phase. When operations are underway simultaneously in all watersheds, which would be about 1985, it is projected by the USBR that the demonstration project would produce an average of one million acre-feet per year of additional water in the river. Funds for this demonstration project were removed from the Administration's budget for the 1978 fiscal year, The Chairman of the Colorado River Board sent a letter to key California Congressmen urging a write-in appropriation of $600,000 to permit the Bureau of Reclamation to initiate work on the demonstration weather modification program for the Colorado River Basin. Similar letters were sent to the Congress from the other Colorado River Basin states, Subsequently, Congress appropriated $600,000 for fiscal year 1978 for this program. The Bureau of Reclamation completed a final EIS for "Project Skywater," which indicated the project will have very little effect, if any, on the environment, and no adverse impacts of major significance. The report covers the entire current research program and looks at the effects that cloud seeding might have if the technology were to be applied over long periods of time, Vegetation Management for Increased Water Yield A draft report on a preliminary investigation for achieving increased water yields in the Colorado River Basin by means of vegetation management of the watersheds was prepared by the U. S. Forest Service for the Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency Committee, The report indicates a total potential increase in runoff of about 1,2 maf/yr in the Upper Basin and 0.3 maf Iyr in the Lower Basin, for a total of 1.5 maf Iyr, These yields are stated to be conservative and attainable even with meeting environmental and other iequiiements. The report presents cost studies that indicate a cost of less than $5 per acre-foot of increased water yield, These preliminary findings indicate that upland vegetation management could be a significant activity for augmenting the flow of the Colorado River. However, these preliminary findings need to be substantiated by future detailed studies, Colorado River Basin Comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement The Bureau of Reclamation, in response to requests for a comprehensive environmental impact statement for the Colorado River by the Environmental Defense Fund, the Colorado Council of Trout Unlimited and the Wilderness Society began ' planning and organizing procedures to develop such a statement. The Bureau planned that this EIS would present data on all authorized projects within the Colorado River Basin and would show the cumulative impact of the projects on environmental factors. No funds had been budgeted for this EIS by Congress, but the Bureau planned to meet the $2 million cost by levying a proportionate overhead charge against Colorado River Basin Projects, This proposed EIS was criticized by a number of public agencies throughout the Colorado River Basin and was opposed in Congress, After several Congressmen questioned the authority of the Bureau of Reclamation to spend funds on this EIS lacking specific authorization, the Bureau, near the end of 1977, was considering either cancelling the EfS or using alternative funding methods. Lower Colorado River Management Program The Federal-State Lower Colorado River Management Program Work Group met during 1977 to continue coordination of problems of river control, channelization, and environmental preservation and enhancement. The COOidinating Committee did not meet during the year. The functions of these groups have been described in the Colorado River Board's previous annual reports, The United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1977 proposed to blast potholes to improve wildlife habitat in low-lying marshy areas along the Palo