DROUGHT
DROUGHT AND HIGH HEAT. IT'S THE BIGGEST STORY
OF THE SUMMER IN THE
WESTERN U.S. AND
IDAHO... AS THE TRIPLE
DIGITS SHOW NO SIGNS
OF LETTING UP.
GOOD EVENING-- WE
BROKE ANOTHER RECORD
FOR HEAT TODAY....WE'LL
GET TO THAT FORECAST IN
JUST
JUST A
JUST A MOMENT. BUT FIRST -- THE DROUGHT.
MORE THAN A-THIRD OF
IDAHO IS EXPERIENCING
SEVERE
SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS THIS SUMMER -- EFFECTING
THE LIVELIHOODS OF
THOUSANDS OF
IDAHOANS -- FROM
FARMERS TO FISHERIES.
BUT WHAT IF WE COULD
MAKE IT RAIN?
IDAHO HAS LONG USED A
GEO-ENGINEERING
METHOD CALLED CLOUD
SEEDING TO MAKE IT
SNOW.
SO WHAT ABOUT RAIN?
TRISTAN LEWIS LOOKED
INTO THIS STORY FOR US.
TRISTAN-- WHY NOT USE
SCIENCE TO NUDGE
MOTHER NATURE INTO
SENDING DOWN SOME
RAIN?
MARK, KIM...
IT'S FAIRLY COMMON
AROUND THE WESTERN
U.S.
CLOUD SEEDING IS
BASICALLY WHEN
HUMANS CHEMICALLY
INDUCE WEATHER.
FROM INCREASING
PRECIPITATION IN THE
MOUNTAINS
MOUNTAINS TO CLEARING UP FOG AT AIRPORTS. BUT WITH THIS HIGH
HEAT-- IT'S WORTH
ASKING-- CAN IT GET US
OUT OF A DROUGHT?
EXPERTS SAY IT'S UNLIKELY.
IN THIS PAST YEAR, IDAHO
AND OTHER PARTS OF THE
WEST SAW FEWER WINTER
STORMS.
THAT HAD AN IMPACT ON
THE SNOWPACK AND
RUNOFF WATER BASINS
AROUND THE TREASURE
VALLEY .
BUT-- WITH A PRACTICE
KNOWN AS CLOUD
SEEDING... IDAHO POWER
WAS ABLE TO PRODUCE
AN ADDITIONAL 475-
THOUSAND ACRE FEET
OF WATER IN 2020.
FOR CONTEXT-- ONE ACRE
FOOT OF WATER IS 326,000
GALLONS.
IF WE HADN'T HAD A
CLOUD SEEDING
PROGRAM IN PRIOR TO
OR IN THE YEAR 2021, WE
WOULD
WOULD HAVE SEEN ABOUT A HALF A MILLION ACRE FEET LESS RUNOFF
OR WATER IN THE
WATERSHED."
THE UTILITY COMPANY
STARTED
STARTED THE CLOUD SEEDING PROCESS IN 2003... AFTER LOOKING
INTO THE PROGRAM IN
THE 90'S COMING OUT OF
A DROUGHT.
AFTER SOME RESEARCH, IT
BECAME CLEAR CLOUD
SEEDING WASN'T THE
'SILVER BULLET' TO GET
OUT OF A DROUGHT.
"IT IS EFFECTIVE AS A
LONG TERM WATER
MANAGEMENT STRATEGY."
SO WHAT IS CLOUD
SEEDING?
IT'S NOT HUMANS
CREATING A STORM.
INSTEAD-- CLOUD
SEEDING ACTS AS MORE
OF A NUDGE TO MOTHER
NATURE TO HELP
INCREASE THE AMOUNT
OF PRECIPITATION THAT
FALLS.
"MOTHER NATURE'S VERY
INEFFICIENT AT MAKING
SNOWFALL OUT OF THE
AIR THAT PASSES OVER
THE
THE TOP
THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN RANGE." THE NUDGE IS ADDING
ICED NUCLEI, ALSO
KNOWN AS SILVER IODIDE,
INTO WINTER STORM
SYSTEMS.
IDAHO POWER USES
REMOTE GROUND
GENERATORS IN HIGHER
ELEVATIONS AND
AIRPLANES THAT BURN
SPECIAL FLARES WITHIN
STORM
STORM CLOUDS. "BY TARGETING THE HIGH ELEVATIONS, IT'S THE LAST
SNOWPACK TO MELT. THAT
GIVES US WATER LATER
INTO THE SEASON."
"WE CAN WIND UP WITH
BENEFITS THROUGHOUT
THE YEAR."
IDAHO POWER STARTED
THE PROGRAMS
OPERATION AT THE
PAYETTE RIVER.
SINCE THEN, IT'S
EXPANDED INTO THE
UPPER SNAKE RIVER, THE
BOISE BAISIN AND THE
WOOD RIVER BASINS.
"OUR CLOUD SEEDING
PROJECT RUNS FROM THE
FIRST OF NOVEMBER
THROUGH ROUGHLY THE
BEGINNING OF APRIL."
THE BENEFITS FROM THE
CLOUD SEEDING
PROGRAM RANGE FROM
AQUIFER RECHARGE AND
THE WATER QUALITY TO
INCREASED GENERATION
AT IDAHO POWER'S
HYDROELECTRIC
FACILITIES.
HYDROELECTRIC FACILITIES. IDAHO POWER SAYS WITH
THE CHANGE IN
PERCIPTATION IN
SNOWPACK, THEY
AVERAGE ABOUT A
MILLION ACRE FEET OF
ADDITIONAL WATER
ACROSS THE RIVER
SYSTEMS.
SYSTEMS.
"WE'RE
"WE'RE JUST TRYING TO GET JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE OUT OF MOTHER
NATURE."
THERE ARE MORE
BENEFITS THAN JUST
ENERGY.
HAVING MORE WATER IN
THE BASIN MAKES IT
HEALTHIER- SO MORE
WATER FOR PLANTS,
TREES, FISH, WILDLIFE AND
MORE.
M/K?
MORE. M/K?
M/K?