| Abstract: | ABSTRACT. Experimental results of cloud seeding in Southwestern Colorado suggest that runoff can be increased by 25 percent over a 3,300 mile area. There is a need to estimate the economic consequences in the Colorado River Basin. The evidence presented suggests that weather modification is an economically feasible means to provide additional water for the basin. Compared with other proposed means of augmenting water supplies, weather modifications appear to be one of the least cost alternatives. A very low proportion of weather modification costs are fixed; thus the program is easily reversible. Also, a relatively small increase in daily precipitation covers the direct costs of operation. Benefits of water produced by weather modification included power production and irrigation of forage crops. In the long run, if additional water is used for higher valued fruit and vegetable production, or for domestic and industrial purposes, its value would rise sharply. Preliminary investigation of extra-market costs and benefits suggests that while they have little effect on the benefit-cost ratio, they may be very important to individuals and groups affected. The distribution of costs and benefits is important as the benefits accrue to downstream users and some of the costs are incurred by Coloradoans. There is a need for further research on the long-run economic effects of weather modification programs, particularly with respect to extra-market factors. |
