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State meteorologist briefs council on cloud seeding, evaluations and environmental monitoring
Summary
Utah Division of Water Resources meteorologist Jonathan Jennings described ground, aerial and drone-based cloud-seeding operations, cited evaluation studies that suggest a 6–12% increase in snowpack statewide, and outlined an environmental monitoring plan to test for silver in snow and water samples.
The council received an extended briefing on Utah—s cloud-seeding programs, evaluation methods and planned environmental studies.
Jonathan Jennings, meteorologist with the Utah Division of Water Resources, framed cloud seeding as a long-standing atmospheric-science tool and described three operational modes: ground-based remote generators, aircraft releases and a new drone-based Bear River Basin pilot. "This is a means of affordable new water production," Jennings said, describing remote ground generators and a new drone waiver that will allow drones to fly into clouds and disperse silver-iodide nucleating agents.
On evaluation, Jennings summarized target-control and statistical analyses used by the division: "Using a linear regression method, we're able to show about a 6 to 12% increase in snowpack across the state of Utah. A 2018 study out of the division of water resources translates that to about 200,000 acre-feet of runoff," he said, while cautioning that evaluations remain challenging because of natural variability and limited spatial observation networks.
Jennings described environmental monitoring work planned with heritage environmental and university partners to test for silver in snow and water samples at parts-per-trillion sensitivity. "We're gonna come in here and, actually, next week, they're coming to take baseline measurements... and we're gonna be doing snow sampling... looking for silver," he said, noting the University of Wisconsin and Boise State laboratories that can measure silver at the necessary sensitivity.
Council members asked about cloud-seeding interactions with weather patterns and the Great Salt Lake; some raised concerns about evaluation certainty and downwind impacts. Jennings said modeling and improved instrumentation (radars, radiometers and ceilometers) are key to better attribution and explained that latent-heat effects can extend benefits beyond a local target area.
He described program costs in per-acre-foot terms and compared cloud seeding to other water-supply options: "Our numbers right now, probably 10, maybe closer to $20 per acre foot water production," he said, adding that desalination and reuse are much more expensive by comparison.
No regulatory action was taken; staff said environmental testing and research-to-operations evaluation will continue.
