With 40% of the U.S. west of the continental divide classified as being in “exceptional drought” and two-thirds of the world’s population facing water shortages by 2025, an old tactic is getting a fresh look. Authorities around the world are increasingly employing artificial weather modification to spur more rainfall. That usually means seeding clouds, which involves using aircraft or drones to add small particles of silver iodide, whose structure is similar to ice, to clouds. Water droplets cluster around the particles, and when enough droplets combine, they become heavy enough to fall to the ground as precipitation. Another technique, hygroscopic seeding, uses salt to encourage water droplets to collide and produce rain in warm clouds. The practice doesn’t create clouds but maximizes rain from naturally occurring ones. “With drought still a major concern, cloud seeding is an encouraged technology for Wyoming to use based on our drought contingency plan,” says Julie Gondzar, an official in the state’s water development office. “It is an inexpensive way to help add water to our basins, in small, incremental amounts over long periods of time.” “Rain enhancement has the potential to offer a more cost effective, sustainable and much less environmentally damaging option than other solutions, such as desalination” that relies on energy-intensive thermal desalination plants and produces waste that can damage marine ecosystems, adds Alya Al Mazroui, director of the United Arab Emirates’ Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science. Induced rain carries benefits, risks The practice of cloud seeding dates to the 1940s. Today, more than 50 countries around the world have weather modification programs. China reportedly cleared the skies by shooting salt-filled bullets into clouds ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2017 alone, the UAE, which gets about 4 inches of rain annually, carried out 242...
Surviving the Drought
Water-saving tips for multifamily
Rain and snow in California have been so scarce over the last three years that about 95 percent of the state is in drought. Along environmental challenges, the ongoing drought has led to a stressed water system which menaces everything from local economies to agriculture and day-to-day living. And although there’s been a slight improvement with the heavy rains in Northern California this month, the state’s water supplies have dipped to alarming levels. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is the major source of water and a significant source of electric power generation in California, is approximately 20 percent of the normal average for this date, according to official statements. California’s major river systems, including the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, have significantly reduced surface water flows; and groundwater levels throughout the state have dropped significantly. Governor Jerry Brown Jr. urged all Californians last month to voluntarily reduce water usage by 20 percent. “We can’t make it rain, but we can be much better prepared for the terrible consequences that California’s drought now threatens, including dramatically less water for our farms and communities and increased fires in both urban and rural areas,” said Governor Brown. “I’ve declared this emergency and I’m calling all Californians to conserve water in every way possible.” Cloverdale and Healdsburg in Sonoma County, Willits in Mendocino County, the small Lompico Water District in the Santa Cruz Mountains as well as several other rural communities in the area may face severe water shortages in the next 60 to 100 days due to excessive drought conditions, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). President Obama has recently travelled to drought-stricken California to offer support and pledged to provide approximately $183 million in drought relief funds; the money will go toward things such as livestock disaster assistance for producers, conservation and helping rural communities with vulnerable water systems. “California’s message to the President today is loud and clear: we need to work together and take immediate action to respond to this drought”, said Ann Notthoff, director of California advocacy for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Californians overwhelming agree that investing in irrigation technologies, water conservation and recycling and local water resiliency are among the strategies that will reduce the effects of this drought and will also make California more drought resilient in the future.” “A federal climate resilience fund will help us meet those goals. State and local funding and planning will also be critical. We look forward to the President and Governor Brown working together to ensure we’re helping Californians get through the drought today while becoming better prepared for a drier future to come,” Notthoff added. While state and local officials continue to work on long-term solutions to water challenges around the country, it’s imperative that we all take an active stand on the matter. By promoting responsible water consumption among community residents, property managers can significantly contribute to stretching the nation’s water supplies. Water-saving efforts have done wonders for Southern Nevada for example, where practically all water used indoors, from home dishwashers to the toilets and bathtubs used by the 40 million tourists who reportedly visit Las Vegas each year, is treated and returned to Lake Mead, The New York Times reports. Since 2002 when the drought response plan was first developed, Southern Nevada has reduced its water demand from about 314 gallons per person per day to about 219 GPCD (gallons per capita per day) in 2012. There are tons of easy ways to conserve water both indoors and outdoors. The Save Our Water program, a partnership between the California Department of Water Resources and the Association of California Water Agencies, brings forth an array of tools and resources to help consumers reduce their water use, regardless of whether California is in a drought. Start with taking care of the outdoors. Outdoor landscaping, which plays a big role in enhancing a property’s curb...
