Farmers have an old saying: “Pray for rain, but keep the plow in the ground.”
For generations, the people who feed this country have kept their faith while adapting to challenges with ingenuity and the use of new tools. Today American farmers, and the American people, face a dire risk that calls for the same approach.
Water scarcity now poses a permanent threat to our food supply, our economy and our families. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley estimate that nearly one million acres of farmland will be fallowed in California alone over the next 15 years due to lack of water. That means rising prices and fewer fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, but also fewer exports, fewer jobs, and more dependence on foreign supply chains in a time of global uncertainty.
Soon it may also mean cities and towns running out of drinking water, the failure of critical infrastructure and ecosystems across the nation facing collapse.
Farmers have always been the beating heart of our nation. In many ways they are also the canary in the coal mine, which is why we should pay close attention to the issues they face and the solutions they are exploring in times of need.
One such tool is cloud-seeding: a safe, scalable method that encourages more rain or snow from weather systems that are already moving through the sky. Used responsibly, it can provide supplemental water for farms, reservoirs and ecosystems at a time when every drop counts.
While relatively unknown to the general public, cloud seeding is nothing new. It was invented in the U.S. and has been used with little fanfare for over 80 years. Today, there are 10 states that actively invest in cloud seeding programs at either a local or state level across the American West: Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas, California, North Dakota, Nevada and soon Montana. In recent years, technological advances have made the process even faster, smarter and more reliable.
How it works is quite simple: We encourage moisture to fall by introducing a small amount of material that fits certain properties into clouds — often silver iodide. The silver iodide gives water vapor something to cling to and freeze, and then it falls as rain, mimicking natural precipitation caused by dust or sea salt.
When conditions are right, cloud seeding increases precipitation by as much as 10 to 15 percent — enough to recharge aquifers, extend growing seasons or shore up a reservoir over time. In Utah, a cloud seeding project has the potential to help refill the Great Salt Lake while adding over a year’s worth of surplus drinking water over the course of a decade.
And here is what cloud seeding cannot do: It cannot create new clouds. It cannot control large weather systems. And it cannot cause disasters. Meteorologists and dozens of state and local regulatory officials across the country agree on these points.
Cloud seeding is a useful and scalable tool that can revitalize ecosystems, lower the incidence of wildfires, and promote hydropower stabilization. In times of drought and increasing water insecurity, to take such a solution off the table would be tremendously damaging to our national interest. Unfortunately, some are trying to do just that.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) recently introduced a bill that would criminalize precipitation enhancement nationwide. This proposal is built on conspiracy theories and ignores the overwhelming consensus of decades of science, threatening to cut off a lifeline to the farmers, communities and families who need access to a precious, life-giving resource.
When disinformation reaches the halls of Congress, the damage can harm everyday people and set back our country at a time when adversaries like China are investing billions in weather and water technologies as part of broader strategies for energy independence, food productivity and global competition. That is a race in which we cannot afford to fall further behind.
So here is the truth: Cloud seeding is neither a silver bullet nor a boogeyman.
I come to this work as both a man of faith and a believer in science. I believe we are meant to care for the land and leave it better than we found it, using the tools we have built with our own God-given abilities.
Today, realities on the ground call for a nuanced discussion about how novel technologies can make our planet more habitable. To me, stewardship of the earth starts with transparency, good science and humility about what technology can and cannot do.
Augustus Doricko is the founder and chief executive officer of Rainmaker Technology Corporation.
