Cloud Seeding is a process that has been used since the 1940s to increase precipitation during a storm. It involves the use of silver iodide, which is loaded onto a plane and shot into a cloud at a certain altitude to cause individual water droplets to freeze together to form snowflakes.
Although cloud seeding cannot single-handedly end a drought, recent studies have shown that it is effective and can yield a 5% to 15% increase in precipitation. This has made cloud seeding an important water management tool in areas experiencing droughts or water shortages.
The ongoing drought in the American West has prompted the Southern Nevada Water Authority to accept a $2.4m grant from the US Bureau of Reclamation to fund cloud seeding across other Western states whose rivers supply the parched desert region.
The funding will be used to upgrade generators to those that can be operated remotely and to seed clouds using planes in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Cloud seeding has been used in Colorado since the 1950s to increase snowfall in the mountains, which serves as a major source of water for the Colorado River
Cloud Seeding is an important tool for increasing water supply in areas experiencing droughts or water shortages. In combination with solar, wind, and other innovations, these efforts are intended to support the increasing population and economic growth in many of our states out West.