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<br />.. <br /> <br />Lag Vegas SUN: New look at old idea could be a rainmaker <br /> <br />The positive chorus is no surprise to Arlen Huggins, a Desert Research <br />Institute scientist who has been working on the technology for 19 years. <br /> <br />Nevada has funded research into cloud seeding as far back as the early <br />1960s, said Huggins, who works at the institute's Reno campus. The DRl's <br />ongoing efforts include seeding to increase Nevada's mountain snow pack, <br />especially to increase spring flows in the Truckee River and to Pyramid Lake. <br /> <br />Huggins said it has been difficult to quantify how much cloud seeding has <br />contributed to the Northern Nevada effort, but the DRI also is participating in a <br />$8.8 million, one-year study in Wyoming that could help put numbers to the <br />cloud-seeding operations. <br /> <br />I So far, the results "have been quite promising," he said. "We'd like to show a <br />. 10 (percent) to 15 percent increase in precipitation." <br /> <br />Huggins said research also is countering some past concerns. <br /> <br />I <br />i One concern of those who depend on precipitation downwind of cloud seeding <br />I is that water claimed in one area is lost to another. But Huggins said the total <br />amount of water carried in storm clouds is huge, with only a small portion of <br />that coming down as precipitation. <br /> <br />"You're taking a little bit of the cloud water vapor, 1 percent of the total amount <br />of water in a storm," he said. <br /> <br />And, Huggins said, the silver in the silver iodide used for cloud seeding isn't an <br />environmental concern: "We've pretty much put to rest the issue of <br />environmental effects from silver in the snow. Even after doing cloud seeding <br />for years, we've not added significantly to the silver that's in the streams and <br />ground water in the West." <br /> <br />Most cloud-seeding efforts, such as the ones in Nevada, are very local, but <br />Huggins sees potential in activity on a multistate level. <br /> <br />I "The projects that are there now are seeding just a fraction of the watersheds <br />that could potentially contribute," he said. "What we'd all like to see, those of us <br />in this area of research, is that some agency of the federal government gets on <br />board with the research." <br /> <br />Launce Rake can be reached at 259-4127 or at /rake@/asvegassun.com. <br /> <br />Problems or questions? <br />Read our policy on privacy and cookies. <br />All contents@ 1996 - 2006 Las Vegas Sun, Inc. <br /> <br />Printable text version I Mail this to a friend <br /> <br />Page 3 of3 <br /> <br />J__n <br /> <br />. A member of the Greenspun Media Group, publishers of: In Business, Las Vegas Life, Las Vegas Magazine, Las Vegas Weekl <br />~ Ralston/Flash, Vegas Golfer, VEGAS Magazine, Vegas.com <br /> <br />http://www.1asvegassun.comlsunbinlstories/sun/2006/jull06/5 6665053 5 .html <br /> <br />9/11/2006 <br />