Laserfiche WebLink
<br />POSSIBILITIES OF INCREASING WATER SUPPLY OF COLORADO <br />RIVER BASIN BY PRECIPITATION CONTROL <br /> <br />Irving 'B. Krick, President, Water Resources Development Corporation <br />(Given with illustrative photographic slides) <br /> <br />Based on experience in increasing water supply to meet the needs of <br />a variety 'of water users ranging from consumers of drinking water to a vast <br />hydroelectric installation, I can confidently state that it is possible for <br />a program of artificial nucleation to increase the water supply of the <br />Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />It is not, however, enough to know that an increase is possible. <br />A great many questions must be answered before one is justified in passing <br />from the fact that cloud seeding can increase water supply to the conclusion <br />that such an operation is economically feasible. <br /> <br />Before we undertake cloud-seeding operations, our Research Department <br />conducts a survey of the proposed area of operation. Detailed discussions are <br />held with the client to determine his water supply problems, his ability to <br />use surplus water, the period of the year when his needs are most critical, <br />and the value that he places on a quantity of water. We then study how well <br />the local natural weather regime lends itself to cloud seeding. <br /> <br />The general path of the storm center in passing through North America <br />is a de terming factor in locating the seeding effort. Since the effectiveness <br />of cloud-seeding operations depends on the type of weather situation and the <br />frequency with which it repeats itself, a study of the weather patterns which <br />affect the area during the contemplated period of operations is made and re- <br />lated to past precipitation. For each weather pattern the median precipita- <br />tion is calculated. The median precipitation is that value which has been <br />equalled or exceeded fifty percent of the time, and furnishes a good estimate <br />of the amount of precipitation to expect on a year-in-and-year-out basis with <br />unseeded experience. The so-called normal precipitation does not occur as <br />frequently as the median and in actuality represents a worse than average <br />expectancy. <br /> <br />Study of the weather patterns, and the median and extremes of pre- <br />cipitation, gives some idea of how far we can go in anticipating precipitation <br />increases. It is not generally a good idea to expect increases to result in <br />precipitation amounts greater than have ever been experienced in the locality. <br /> <br />Seeding potentialities are not uniform over a large area. They may <br />vary from month to month and from storm to storm. Topography is an important <br />factor in determining the occurrence of favorable cloud-seeding situations, <br />the likelihood of success, and the proper locations of generators. <br /> <br />Since it is necessary to communicate with the operator for purposes <br />of having him turn his cloud-seeding generator on or off, a survey of the <br />communication facilities is made and arrangements considered for relaying <br />orders. <br /> <br />-23- <br />