SALT LAKE CITY — Some of Utah's most powerful people gathered outside the Capitol building before sunrise on Thursday, sipping cocoa and observing a small flame burning from a trailer.
Members of the Utah State Legislature were observing a demonstration of the latest cloud seeding technologies as the state seeks to keep expanding its program.
"We need water in Utah and if this works as we think it’s going to work, we’d love to take advantage of any opportunity we can," said Rep. Stewart Barlow, R-Fruit Heights, the House chair of the Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee.
"In a typical synoptic cloud, like a large-scale cloud, only 1% of the moisture in that cloud is actually precipitated. So we’re taking an additional 10% of that moisture," said Jonathan Jennings, a meteorologist with the Utah Division of Water Resources.
Cloud seeding essentially releases silver iodide in a storm, juicing it up a little bit. The Utah Division of Water Resources said its research has shown it to have positive effects increasing precipitation in a storm 6-12%.
"Ninety -five percent of our water supply comes from our snowpack," said Candice Hasenayager, the division's director. "So we’re really trying to increase the amount of precipitation we get in the wintertime to increase our snowfall."
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The Utah State Legislature has dramatically increased its funding for cloud seeding from $300,000 to more than $5 million. That's allowed the state to purchase new machines that can be operated remotely and a fleet of drones that spread a powdered form of silver iodide.
"Now you can deploy it using drones and target deployment of the silver iodide," said Rep. Paul Cutler, R-Centerville. "It's fascinating and I think provides better results than we’ve had in the past."
The state also uses airplanes in southern Utah for cloud seeding. Coincidentally, a bill in the Utah State Legislature that prohibits "chemtrails" passed out of a Senate committee on Wednesday night. The bill has an exception for cloud seeding activities.
Rep. Barlow said he was impressed by the demonstration he saw.
"This is the cheapest water that we can buy or bring into the system," he told FOX 13 News. "Yeah, we’re hoping to take advantage of that and help save the lake."
The Great Salt Lake is one area that could see benefits from cloud seeding. The latest funding request in the legislature is specifically for the Bear River area.
"If we’re putting more snow on our mountains and that translates into additional stream flow, that can help relieve some of the stress on the reservoirs, within some of these basins and allow for more water to be released into the Great Salt Lake, the Green River and the Colorado River," Jennings said.
States in the lower part of the Colorado River are actually paying Utah to extend its cloud seeding system, as they benefit downstream, Hasenyager said.
But environmental groups question it. Chandler Rosenberg with Stewardship Utah said that while there may be success in the program, it's a major investment of taxpayer dollars to search for water.
"In my mind, we really should be focusing and doubling down, even, on conservation and learning to live within the limits of our bio-region," said Chandler Rosenberg with the group Stewardship Utah.
But Tyson Roberts, a Layton-area farmer and the vice-president of the Utah Farm Bureau, said it was worth it to him.
"In agriculture, water’s a vital part of our operation," he told FOX 13 News. "We can’t grow food without it. So any way we can get more water in our snowpack, in our reservoirs, it’s going to help all of us."
While state officials are happy with the overall program, there is one thing that has impacted it this year — a lack of storms.
"We need clouds to cloud seed, so it is really important that we have those regular storms to come in," said Hasenyager.
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
