Programme al Ghait : Morocco winter snowpack augmentation project -- a cooperative project between the Kingdom of Morocco and the United States under participating agency service agreement IMA-0190-P-IW-4093-00 : final report

and the Government of Morocco initiated a joint effort in 1983 to utilize weather modification techniques to augment rainfall. The project uses silver iodide as a seeding agent to increase the precipitation efficiency of cold clouds in the Central High Atlas Mountains. The silver iodide is released from aircraft, ground-based seeding generators, or both during periods when seedable clouds exist in the target area. Field operations conducted from 1984 to 1989 resulted in the seeding of 15-25 storm events during each season, with a total of 144 seeded days during the 5 years. This report evaluates the project in terms of its scientific design; institutional development and infrastructure; technology transfer; cloud seeding operations; scientific, hydrologic, and economic studies; and evaluation. The contributions of the Moroccan and U.S. governments are also assessed. While the project has made significant achievements in all areas, a statistical analysis of the effect of the program on streamflow is not yet possible. The first 2.5 years of the project must be eliminated from analysis due to low seeding efficiency, leaving only a 1.5-year sample - far less than the 6 years necessary for an accurate evaluation.