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Show H. ATMOSPHERIC WATER RESOURCES PROGRAM in the UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN Cloud seeding to augment the water supply of the Colorado River by artificially increasing precipitation in the Upper Colorado River Basin may, some time in the indefinite future, become partial solution to the problem of recurrent water shortage. As part of its research into atmospheric water resources, the Bureau of Reclamation has been sponsoring cloud seeding experiments at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, since 1964. E. Bollay Associates, under contract with the Bureau, has been attempting to effect a measurable increase in snowfall from winter frontal storms. Although the results to date appear favorable, the large number of variables encountered in weather phenomena must be better understood before the experiments can be termed conclusive. The Steamboat Springs experiments are therefore expected to be continued for a number of years. Scientists from the University of Wyoming, also working under contract with the Bureau of Reclamation, are planning a pilot project of seeding "cap" clouds in the Wind River Range in western Wyoming. A cap cloud is a stable mass of supercooled water droplets that condenses from moist winds flowing over a mountain. It occurs only in winter. The University of Wyoming has been conducting seeding experiments on cap clouds at Elk Mountain (between Rawlins and Laramie in southern Wyoming) for a number of years. Also of importance in this field are the cloud seeding experiments being conducted near Climax, Colorado, by Colorado State University under sponsorship of the National Science Foundation. These experiments are designed to show the quantitative change in precipitation by cloud seeding and to determine criteria for optimum seeding conditions. In a special report entitled "Augmenting Upper Colorado River Basin Water Supply," the Office of Atmospheric Water Resources of the Bureau of Reclamation has outlined a theoretical basis for an operational program of cloud seeding in the Upper Basin. Because of the great imbalance that exists between the limited water supply of the Colorado River System and the vast quantities of other natural resources in the Basin that require water for their exploitation, the Upper Colorado River Commission will observe all programs of atmospheric water resources research with a great deal of interest. 137 |
