It’s an old idea with a new twist. Cloud seeding by way of drones may be in California’s future as scientists, politicians and the business sector are considering just about any plausible idea to find fresh water.
Cloud seeding can’t make it rain in an instant, but the process does create snow in the clouds. Filled with water vapor, clouds must be, somehow, coaxed into forming the ice crystals needed for snow. Seeding devices are primarily on the ground and designed to burn silver oxide into a fine mist that gets tossed into the air. The resulting iodide mist then attracts water vapor which will collect around the iodide particles and freeze into crystals. But the process can be tricky for pilots who can’t always fly safely into cloud areas with the highest “seeding potential.”
Enter the new “cloud-seeding drones” which are being tested by the Desert Research Institute in Nevada with a goal of delivering the most effective dose of silver iodide into the clouds to generate the greatest precipitation level.
“This does not challenge the scientific basis of cloud-seeding concepts,” it was reported in a press release issued this week by the National Research Council. “The scientific community today does have the opportunity, challenge and responsibility to assess the potential efficacy and value of intentional weather-modification technologies.”
In plain English, “it couldn’t hurt.”
Shawn Blosser, an economic consultant with the Blue Sky Group, a public policy consultancy that operates a mix of technology and green businesses, said the drones are only one aspect of an urgent campaign in California to secure more fresh water. “There has to be a coordinated effort on a lot of fronts to both lessen demand and increase supply, to get the demand and supply back into balance.” Blosser added that it is important to “keep innovating” in water resource management and that even if the drought eases next year, the long-term trend of water demand outpacing supply, he said, will continue. The best solution to this is to continue conservation methods, which were outlined in January by Gov. Jerry Brown, who called for a 20-percent reduction in water use.
Because California secures a significant portion of electricity from hydropower, less precipitation results in higher electricity bills. Before the drought, California routinely generated about 20 percent of its electricity from hydropower—usually from January through June. The first six months of this year, naturally, has seen very little if any rainfall. To make up for the shortfall, California’s renewable energy industry has suggested more use of wind power, solar power and even natural gas to cover for vanishing hydropower. Through the first six months of the year, natural gas plants statewide have generated 16 percent more energy than average.
Ironically, the drought has led to a bright spot for the nation’s wine connoisseurs. In Napa and Sonoma counties, known worldwide as “Wine Country,” the warm days, cool nights and dry weather have produced grapes of taste and quality that many vintners say they haven’t seen since the last drought in 2007-2009. They think this year could produce the best California wine ever. Apparently, reduced water forces the grapevines to produce smaller berries, which result in sugar and flavors being more concentrated. If there is too much rain, grapes get covered in mold and mildew. But now, because they’re ripening faster under an endless sun, vineyards are being harvested weeks earlier than usual thereby avoiding problems like [the usual] autumn storms.
“If there’s a silver lining to the drought in terms of wine grapes, it’s that they are really drought tolerant,” said Michael Honig, president and co-owner of Honig Vineyard and Winery in Napa County.
