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<br />1432 <br /> <br />Weather Modification Activitie. <br /> <br />Early in 1970, the Bureau of Reclamation <br />announced the award of a $1.8 million con- <br />tract for a cloud seeding pilot project to be <br />carried on in the San Juan range of the Rocky <br />Mountains in southwest Colorado. Concur- <br />rently, a contract was awarded to three edu- <br />cational institutions for planning an ecologi- <br />cal monitoring program to be completed <br />before any seeding is conducted, The pilot <br />project is part of the Bureau's Project Skywa- <br />ter program to determine if cloud seeding <br />can provide water augmentation in an eco- <br />nomic, efficient, and socially acceptable man- <br />ner. <br /> <br />Planning and instrumentation for the pilot <br /> <br />40 <br /> <br />project was initiated in 1968, testing and <br />debugging of equipment was performed in <br />the 1969-70 winter season, and the first test <br />seeding was initiated in late 1970. The sched- <br />ule now calls for continuation of seeding in <br />the 1970-71 season and continuing for at least <br />three additional winter seasons and possibly <br />a fourth, Seeding will not be done during the <br />last season unless the four planned seasons do <br />not provide sufficient seeding data for accu- <br />rate evaluation. <br />On November 9, 1970, the Bureau of Rec- <br />lamation announced that a four-year study, <br />under an $881,000 contract, would be con- <br />ducted to determine and assess the ecological <br />effects of augmented snowpack in the San <br />Juan Mountain project area. <br />