Wyoming scientists to begin experiment with cloud seeding

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Like most other Western states, Wyoming is rich in oil, gas, coal and other mineral deposits but is wanting for water.

So, like other Western states, Wyoming is embarking on a cloud-seeding project that aims to bolster mountain snowpack — the reservoirs of the arid and semiarid West — and create more water from spring and summer snowmelt.

But Wyoming's $8.8 million, five-year cloud-seeding project goes beyond what other states are doing, not only because of its size and scope, but because it could yield definitive proof whether cloud seeding actually works.

"Hopefully in Wyoming we'll find evidence for that to be a viable tool in water resource management," said Dan Breed, project scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

"This is certainly one program that has the opportunity to solve some of the problems we've been facing," said Arlen Huggins, a Nevada research scientist involved with cloud seeding since 1980.

Millions of dollars is already being spent in a number of states, especially in the West, to spew silver iodide, or dry ice, into storm clouds in order to coax more rain and snow to fall.

In a letter recently to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, representatives of the seven states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — identified cloud seeding as a key component for dealing with or averting future water shortages brought on by the strain of population growth in the West.

Breed said most of the water in the West comes from mountains, where the snowpack acts essentially like a reservoir. The Colorado River Basin, fed mainly by water from the mountains, is a major water supply for seven states. But increasing demand for water has water managers fearing shortages in the future.

If more snow can be produced in the mountains by cloud seeding, it would mean more water for cities, towns and farms.

However, whether cloud seeding actually works has been the subject of debate among the scientific community.

In 2003, the National Academy of Sciences questioned the science behind cloud seeding as "too weak" to prove it actually works. The agency called for a national research effort into cloud seeding.

Huggins said a lack of money has limited research into cloud seeding over the last decade.