Science, and transportation united states senate

from an "in-house" effort.

3. Additional water and benefits accruing to local groups from re-

search seeding would not be reimbursed.

f0 Ibid.

00 Shaplev. Deborah. "Weather Warfare: Pentagon Concedes 7-year Vietnam Effort," Sci-

ence, vol. 184. No. 4141. June 7. 1974, p. 1059.

01 Bureau of Reclamation. U.S. Department of the Interior, "Atmospheric Water Resources

Management Program ; Project Skywater. Information Summary," presented before the U.S.

Department of Commerce National Weather Modification Advisory Board, May 31, 1977,

Washington, D.C., p. 1.

92 Ibid.

247

The Bureau of Reclamation, through Project Skywater, has been

tion of precipitation enhancement research.

Recent legislation in the 95th Congress has also enabled the Bureau

to provide grants to States in order to facilitate emergency weather

modification activities in hope of mitigating effects of the 1976-77

drought. This program, not part of the Atmospheric Water Resources

Management Program, is discussed in a subsequent section. 93

Table 5 is a summary of weather modification research funding and

projected funding from fiscal year 1976 through fiscal year 1978 for

the Bureau of Reclamation. All of the funds shown are associated

with Project Skywater and do not include those previously mentioned

in connection with emergency grants for drought alleviation.

TABLE 5. — WEATHER MODIFICATION FUNDING FOR FISCAL YEAR 1976 THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 1978 FOR THE

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, UNDER THE ATMOSPHERIC WATER RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (PROJECT SKYWATER) 1

[In thousands of dollars]

Fiscal year

Transition

Fiscal year

Fiscal year

1976

quarter

1978

Snow augmentation (including SCPP)

375

50

1,750

2, 475

3, 800

Modeling and comprehensive analysis studies

500

100

300

300

400

Support and services

2 999

MOO

2 1, 263

Total

4, 649

6, 446

1 From Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology. Interdepartmental Committee for

Atmospheric Sciences. National Atmospheric Sciences program: Fiscal Year 1978. ICAS 21— Fiscal year 1978. August

1977, p. 91.

2 Includes computer and planning costs.

Project Skywater general discussion

Over the past decade, the Bureau of Reclamation's Atmospheric

Water Resources Management Program (Project Skywater) has ac-

counted for about one-third of the total Federal program in all forms

of weather modification. All of the Bureau's funding has been directed,

however, toward research in precipitation enhancement. Of the funds

appropriated, about 83 percent are used for contracted research. Table

6 shows the breakdown of funding for the fiscal years 1962 through

1977 by kinds of contractor and according to in-house or other Fed-

eral expenditure. From the table it can be seen that 41 percent has

been allocated to universities, 23 percent to private firms, 10 percent

to State governments, and 6 percent to other Federal agencies, while

17 percent has been spent by the Bureau for planning, management,

and in-house research. Table 7 shows the breakdown of these funds

in accordance with functions or major projects. The three major

projects in the table will be discussed briefly below.

93 See p. 266 of this section, and also see p. 202 under discussion of congressional

activities.

248

YEAR 1962 THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 1977 1

Total incurred

Fiscal year

Universities

Private

USBR2

obligations

1962

$70, 000

$100,000

1963

83, 747

100, 000

1964

133, 000

175,000

459, 630

$283, 978

$3, 500

$201,000

1,100, 000

1966

637, 250

168, 700

303, 150

? qpd nnn

£, JCU, UUU

1967

1 989 321

361,300

251,858

1968

859' 000

345, 000

423', 311

286, 200

4, 631, 200

1 QfiQ

o 77R ok

31 MO

4bU, bob

273, 500

4, 689, 656

1970

2, 966, 200

254,885

268, 325

4, 809, 508

1971

1,415,187

570,600

753, 436

335, 344

6, 593, 650

1972

3, 539, 323

664, 926

784, 857

321,597

1973

1, 105, 029

905, 200

889, 387

173, 021

6, 385, 576

1974..

899, 110

336, 104

976, 747

189, 282

3,900, 225

1975

1,318,961

2S6.227

1,270,634

342,491

3, 997, 224

1976

497, 572

617, 133

1,677, 593

391,196

Transition quarter

214, 245

609, 229

234, 528

469,914

1, 624, 091

1977 (estimate)

1,800,000

1,600,000

1,200, 000

1,454,481

400, 000

6, 454, 481

Total

14, 669, 398

6, 276, 652

10, 518, 949

3, 869, 489

3 62,348, 381

Percent 44 23 10 17 6 100

1 Bureau of Reclamation. Atmospheric Water Resources Management Program: Project Skywater. Infcrmaticn summary.

May 31, 1977, p. 24.

2 Includes salaries, equipment, supplies, and computer costs.

3 Official total as corrected for recoveries, underf.nancing, and other adjustments.

Table 7. — Bureau of Reclamation Atmospheric Water Resources Management

Program. Allocation of Funding by Function and by Major Projects for Fiscal

Years 1962 Through 1977 1

Research and development $31, 749, 665

Environmental 2, 173, 676

Associated comprehensive studies 3, 296, 202

Colorado River Basin Pilot Project 5, 100, 792

Sierra Cooperative Pilot Project 866, 805

HIPLEX 10, 557, 767

Other pilot projects 1, 980, 000

Planning, management, and program support 6, 623, 471

62, 348, 381

1 Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior. Atmospheric water resources

management program : Project Skywater. Information summary, May 31, 1977, p. 23.

249

Bureau of Reclamation.)

250

Sky water has emphasized cooperation, joint participation, and cost

experiments have included research contracted with universities, State

agencies, and private firms. Funds have also been transferred to other

Federal agencies, who have cooperated in the various aspects of the

program. Table 8 is a listing of the principal contractors and Govern-

ment activities who have participated. Research contracts have been

concerned with winter orographic snowfall augmentation and in-

creases in summer convective cloud rainfall — both of which are prin-

cipal precipitation mechanisms in the Western United States. The

distribution of major field projects underway or planned during fiscal

year 1977 as part of Skywater and the locations of contractor institu-

tions and Federal activities involved in various aspects of the program

are shown in figure 3.

TABLE 8. — PRINCIPAL CONTRACTORS AND RESEARCH C00PERAT0RS ASSOCIATED WITH PROJECT SKYWATER i

University Private Government

University of Arizona.

Brigham Young University.

University of California.

University of California at Los Angeles.

University of Colorado.

Colorado State University.

University of Denver.

Fresno State College.

Harvard University.

University of Michigan.

Montana State University.

University of Nevada.

New Mexico State University.

New York University.

University of North Dakota.

North Dakota State University.

University of Oklahoma.

Pennsylvania State University.

San Diego State University.

South Dakota School of Mines and

Technology.

South Dakota State University.

Taft College.

Texas A. & M. Research Foundation.

Utah State University.

University of Washington.

University of Wisconsin.

University of Wyoming.

Amos Eddy, Inc.

Aeromet, Inc.

Aerometric Research, Inc.

Convergence Systems, Inc.

Colorado International Corp.

E. Bollay Associates.

E.G. & G., Inc.

Electronic Techniques, Inc.

Enterprise Electronics, Inc.

Environmental Research and Tech-

nology, Inc.

Geophysical Research and Develop-

ment Corp.

Human Ecology Research Services.

M. B. Associates, Inc.

Meteorology Research, Inc.

North American Weather Con-

sultants.

Stanford Research, Inc.

T. G. Owe Berg, Inc.

Travelers Research Inc.

Weather Science, Inc.

Western Scientific Services, Inc.

U.S. Air Force.

U.S. Army (Pueblo Depot).

California Department of Transportation.

California Highway Partol.

Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

Colorado River Municipal Water District.

Forest Service.

General Services Administration.

Geological Survey.

Illinois State Water Survey.

Kansas Water Resources Board.

Montana Department of Natural Resources

and Conservation.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration.

National Science Foundation.

Navy Weapons Center.

Navy Weather Research Facility.

Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

North Dakota Weather Modification Board.

Sacramento River Forecast Center.

Soil Conservation Service.

South Dakota Weather Control Com-

mission.

Southwestern Water Conservation District.

Washington Department of Ecology.

Texas Water Development Board.

Utah Department of Water Resources.

i Bureau of Reclamation. Atmospheric Water Resources Management Program: Project Skywater. Information summary,

May 31. 1977. p. 26.

The widespread field projects of Skywater from 1962 through 1977

are shown in figure 4. In recent years, research experiments and studies

have been concentrated on three major projects, one of which has

just been completed, while the other two are in realtively early stages.

These projects, each of which is discussed below in some detail, are the

Colorado River Basin Pilot Project, the High Plains Cooperative Pro-

gram (HIPLEX), and the Sierra Cooperative Pilot Project. In addi-

I ion lo t he concentrated research effort in these three regional projects,

the Bureau continues to provide technical planning and equipment

assistance to local projects in States such as North Dakota, Kansas,

Texas, and Pi ah. Support is also being given to the development of

the application of satellite imagery for cloud seeding decisions and

evaluations and to the adaptation of research cloud models for use in

local operations. The Skywater Environmental Computer Network

251

provides real-time data support to both field research and commercial

schematic of the Data Network, with its central unit in Denver, which

also provides access to real time and archived data for a variety of

other research projects. Cloud models and other computerized aids are

made available for testing by winter and summer operators through

the Environmental Data Network in return for practical appraisals of

usefulness and recommendations for improvement.

Planning and other preliminary field studies for possible future

weather modification cooperative research in the Colorado River

Basin are continuing. Recently, the final programmatic environmental

impact statement for Project Skywater was completed. 94 Several site

specific environmental impact statements, including one for the Colo-

rado River Basin Pilot Project, were completed earlier. A compre-

hensive assessment of the entire field of precipitation enhancement is

being performed, which includes reviews of both research and opera-

tional project results.

Project Skywater = FY 1977

Figure 3.— Major Skywater field projects and locations of contractors and Federal

institutions during fiscal year 1977. (From Project Skywater information

summary, May 31, 1977.)

e * U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, "Final Environmental State-

ment for Project Skywater ; a Program of Research in Precipitation Management, ' Division

of Atmospheric Water Resources Management, INT FES 77-39, Denver, Oct. 2o, 1977. In

three volumes. (376 and 316 and 266 pp.)

252

Skywater Field Projects 1962-1977

Figure 4. — Locations of Skywater field projects from 1962 through 1977. ( From

Project Skywater information summary, May 31, 1977.)

PROJECT SKYWATER ENVIRONMENTAL COMPUTER NETWORK

Operational

Research Seeding

Projects Projects

Model

Other

Direct Dial Lines To Users

NWS Observations

\ / /

Bureou of Reclamation

-Data Bank

-Programs

-Models

-Analysis

-Plotting

2400 Baud High Sped

■Processed Data

-Grid Forecasts.

Suitland

NMC

X

Goddard

Figure 5. — Schematic of the Project Skywater Environmental Computer Network.

(From Project Skywater information summary, May 31, 1977.)

253

254

This Avas a large weather modification research project conducted

by the Bureau of Reclamation under Project Sky water to determine

the feasibility of augmenting high mountain snowpacks in the San

Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. The seeding and data col-

lection phase of this large project was conducted between 1970 and

1975, although planning for the experiment began in 1967. Project

evaluations were prepared in 1976, and further analyses and environ-

mental studies are continuing in 1977. The target area selected for the

CRBPP (or the San Juan Project as it is sometimes called) covered

nearly 3,400 km 2 (1,300 mi 2 ) of sparsely populated mountainous ter-

rain east and northeast of Durango, Colo. Elevations extended from

above 2,750 meters to 4,200 meters. 95 Figure 6 shows the locations of

target areas and instrumentation arrays in the CRBPP in southwest

Colorado.

The Colorado River Basin is one of the most water-short areas in

the Nation, and weather modification has been recommended as a

practical and immediately available water augmentation technology. 96

Preliminary results show that a 19-percent augmentation in streamfiow

may be possible through seeding in this area of headwaters of the

Colorado River Basin. 97

05 Aerometric Research, Inc., "Colorado River Basin IMlot Project; Executive Summary

of Comprehensive Evaluation," prepared for Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclama-

tion under contract No. 14-06-D-7332. Goleta, Calif., December 1976, p. 1.

08 Federal Council for Science and Technology, Interdepartmental Committee for Atmos-

pheric Sciences, "National Atmospheric Sciences Program : Fiscal Year 1977." ICAS 20-

FY 77, May 1976, p. 92.

07 Bureau of Reclamation, "Atmospheric Water Resources Management Program ; Project

Skywater," May 31, 1977, p. 25.

Figure 6. — Map showing the locations of target areas and instrumentation

arrays in the Colorado River Basin Pilot Project in southwest Colorado. (From

Bureau of Reclamation.)

256

Kesults of analyses of the San Juan project indicate that winter oro-

but that additional snowpack can be provided through seeding.

Characteristics of treatable storms have been identified more cleary. 98

In a major analysis and evaluation of the project it was determined

that many of the clouds actually seeded in the experiment were not of

a suitable type, that on some experimental days the weather did not

develop as forecast, that in some cases seeding material remained in

the area beyond planned experimental seeding periods, and on some

days rapid weather changes produced conditions in which precipita-

tion was decreased by seeding." Consequently, "the total unstratified

statistical analysis found no difference between precipitation on seeded

experimental days and control days. However, when days of missed

forecasts were removed, and data from experimental days were reduced

to 6 -hour time blocks to improve the correlation between meteorological

covariates and precipitation, increases during certain classes of seeded

cases were statistically significant." 1 Nevertheless, the evaluation re-

port concludes that, "the overall potential for seeding-produced in-

creases in precipitation during a winter of average snowfall was de-

termined to be about 10 percent. The resulting potential increase in

streamflow of about 19 percent is 197 million m 3 for the San Juan

Kiver." 2

98 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, "Reclamation in the Seven-

ties," second progress report. A water resources technical publication, research rept. No.

28. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office. 1!*77. p. 2.

09 Atmospheric Research, Inc., "Colorado River Basin Pilot Project ; Executive Summary

of Comprehensive Evaluation," 1976, p. 3.

1 Ibid.

2 Ibid.

River Basin Pilot Project. (Courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation.)

258

The High Plains Cooperative Program {HIPLEX)

gram designed "to develop a practical, scientifically sound, and social-

ly acceptable technology for precipitation management applicable to

summer connective cloud systems in the High Plains region of the

United States." 3 The overall goal of HIPLEX is "to establish a veri-

fied, effective cloud seeding technology and a policy and management

background for responsibly producing additional rain in the semiarid

Plain States. This goal includes improving the current operational

cloud seeding methods, transferring the techniques and results to con-

cerned groups ; and enhancing public confidence in their use." 4

Kesearch in HIPLEX is being conducted at three field sites : Miles

City, Mont. ; Goocllancl, Kans. ; and Big Spring, Tex. (see fig. 3) . These

cities represent, respectively, the northern, central, and sourthern

High Plains ; they were chosen in view of the known or suspected varia-

tion of climatic conditions and cloud characteristics over the north-

south extent of the High Plains and the obvious implications of such

variations on technology transferability. 5 Examination and under-

standing of the social, political, and agronomic differences across the

High Plains and their implications for effective technology transfer

was also instrumental in selecting a variety of field sites. 6

HIPLEX was initiated in 1973 when the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) assigned to the Bureau of Reclamation the responsi-

bility for mounting an experimental program to test scientific con-

cepts for augmenting precipitation in the High Plains. The $1 million

first appropriated for HIPLEX in fiscal year 1974 has grown to about

$4 million in fiscal year 1977, each recent year's appropriation also in-

cluding a congressional write-in which has increased OMB's pro-

gramed budget. 7 About 80 percent of the fiscal year 1977 budget has

been for contracted research and 20 percent for in-house management

and support. Universities received 29 percent of the contracted research

funds, private firms were awarded 81 percent, and 20 percent went to

State and Federal agencies. 8 Table 9 is a funding breakdown of fiscal

year 1977 HIPLEX funds by function, expressed in percentage of the

total HIPLEX budget.

Table 9. — Fiscal year 1977 HIPLEX funding breakdown by function

Function : Percent

Field operations 44. 1

Analysis 28. 7

Management, planning, design, data management 22.5

►Social, legal, and environmental studies (augmentation to State sup-

ported activities) • 4.7

Total 100.0

a Silverman. Bernard A . "HIPLEX : An Overview." Sixth Conference on Planned and In-

advertent Wenther Modification. American Meteorological Society. Champaign-Urbana, 111.,

Oct 10-18, 1077. p. 311.

* U.S. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation, "High Plains Cooperative Pro-

gram ; Progress and Planning Report No. 2," Denver. March 1976, p. 3.

G Silverman, "HIPLEX : An Overview," 1977, p. 311.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

259