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State water supplies increasingly cloudy; Agencies hoping seeding process can help bolster key watersheds

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 29, 2008 at 7:10 am

From Stockton’s Record:

Keep your eyes on the clouds rolling east this week. If they’re fat enough, they’ll get squeezed. Thirsty California water and power agencies – including those serving San Joaquin County – this winter are again sending pilots out to seed the clouds over key watersheds. In fact, the cloud-seeding programs are growing and could potentially double in coming years, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

The year’s first seeding in the central Sierra could happen this week if conditions are right.

The seeding involves the use of chemicals such as silver iodide that cause more water droplets or snowflakes to condense and fall to the ground. Various agencies spend more than $3 million a year statewide on the seeding, which typically generates rain and snow fall that yields an extra 300,000 to 400,000 acre-feet a year of water, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

An acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre 1 foot deep. Water managers say an acre-foot is about enough water to serve two typical family homes for a year.

“It definitely is worth it,” said Kevin Cunningham, hydro facilities manager for the Northern California Power Agency, which this year for the second time is seeding clouds over watersheds in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties that feed the North Fork Stanislaus River.

Read more from the Stockton Record by clicking here.

November 29, 2008 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack

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