The problem with cloud seeding has always been the difficulty of seeding at the right concentration in the right place. One intriguing new wrinkle is the development of drone aircraft technology which could, in principle, allow greater facility in delivering ice nuclei to where they can be most-efficiently used. Still, it's a huge challenge, and there is little sign this problem has been adequately addressed:
Once viewed by some as a fringe science, cloud seeding has entered the mainstream as a tool to pad the state’s crucial mountain snowpack. New technology to manage the practice, and research that points to reliable results, have cemented cloud seeding as a dependable and affordable water-supply practice.
“The message is starting to sink in that this is a cost-effective tool,” said Jeff Tilley, director of weather modification at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, which practices cloud seeding in the Lake Tahoe Basin and Eastern Sierra Nevada. “The technology is better; we understand how to do cloud seeding much better. And because we know how to do it more effectively, it’s definitely taken more seriously.”
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