Giving Compass' Take:

• As droughts and storms grow in frequency and intensity, managing when are where precipitation occurs may prove useful. However, cloud seeding is largely unproven, and other solutions must be implemented to deal with the consequences of climate change. 

• What drought and storm mitigation plans exist in your area? How can plans be created, improved and expanded to these ends?

• Find out how philanthropy can help the water system crisis. 

Water is a valuable resource that affects nearly all aspects of life on earth. It also is limited, so people use a variety of methods to ensure that supply meets demand.

One such technique is cloud seeding – adding particles to the atmosphere to promote the formation of rain or snow. Today many entities across the West – including state and local government agencies, utilities and ski areas – seed clouds in an effort to boost winter snowfall in the mountains. More snowpack means more spring and summer runoff, which feeds local water supplies, irrigates crops and fuels dams that generate hydroelectric power.

Cloud seeding has also been used in efforts to disperse fog at airports, boost summer rainfall and reduce hail. In fact, cloud seeding occurs in more than 50 countries worldwide. Yet despite all of this activity, we still don’t know whether it works.

We are atmospheric scientists and recently conducted a field study to evaluate cloud seeding as a means of enhancing mountain snowpack from winter storms. Our results clearly demonstrate that, at least under certain conditions, it is possible to change the evolution and growth of cloud particles, leading to snowfall that otherwise would not have occurred. The next question is whether cloud seeding can be an effective tool for water managers in the western United States.

Read more about cloud seeding by Sarah Tessendorf and Jeffrey French at The Conversation