Rep. Mike Schmid (R-La Barge) keeps bringing up his disdain for cloud seeding during this year’s legislative session.
In the House Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee, Schmid discussed a bill dealing with water projects, “I don’t know if this takes an amendment but [I’d like] to remove the money allocated to the cloud seeding projects.”
Also in the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, the Freedom Caucus-aligned lawmaker responded to testimony about cloud seeding, “I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of this. It sounds a lot like climate change to me – we all know what that is.”
Most recently Schmid introduced an amendment to House Bill 117, ‘Omnibus water bill-construction’.
Schmid’s amendment stripped funds for Wyoming’s cloud seeding program. For about two decades the technology has been used in the Wind River Range, and more recently the Sierra Madres, to try to beef up mountain snowpack to help with drought conditions both for Wyoming and those downstream.
“The Colorado River Basin has been in a drought since 2000, and the states are struggling with how to deal with that reduced water supply,” said Chris Brown, Wyoming’s senior assistant attorney general, in testimony about cloud seeding to lawmakers earlier this session. “As we come up with tools on how to deal with that, everything’s on the table.”
He said cloud seeding is a “tool in the toolkit” for doing so. In fact, Brown added that it’s a part of the Upper Colorado River Commission’s 2014 drought contingency plan, which is a pact between Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The lower states in the Basin help pay for the technology in the northern states. For example, the Southern Nevada Water Authority received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 2023 to help fund cloud seeding efforts in other states, like Wyoming. The Southwestern Water Conservation District said they also deem it a worthy investment, citing a 2014 State of Wyoming study that shows cloud seeding increases snowfall from 5 -15%.
Brown said other states and entities pay for 63% of Wyoming’s cloud seeding, leaving 37% for Wyoming to cover. This year the Wind River and Sierra Madres project required the state to invest up to $322,143 of the total $862,143 cost.
“Because a rising tide floats all boats,” Brown said. “Certainly the folks downstream see extreme value in employing every tool we can to try to address the deficits that we’re seeing.”
But Schmid said he has qualms with that line of thinking. One, because it’s pushing the scientifically backed concept of climate change, which he’s skeptical about. Second, he’s worried about the technology’s chemicals.
To modify weather, planes or ground-based equipment is used to “seed” existing clouds with silver iodide, which helps attract more moisture. That same 2014 Wyoming study looked at the environment for silver concentrations to see if there were harmful amounts. Researchers found silver iodide used for this purpose has a “negligible impact on the environment and on precipitation in the area surrounding the intended target.”
But Schmid is looking for more research. He even linked the technology to the possible decline in bighorn sheep in the Wind River Range.
“That used to be what I called the hatchery of bighorn sheep translocations around the country,” Schmid said on the House floor when presenting his cloud seeding defunding amendment. “It’s not possible anymore because the sheep aren't there any longer.”
While there are in fact still bighorn sheep in the Whiskey Mountain herd, the numbers have plummeted from 2,500 to about 750, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
However, no research connects the decline of bighorn sheep with cloud seeding.
“Our bighorn sheep are not dying because of cloud seeding,” said Rep. Karlee Provenza (D-Laramie) in response to Schmid. “There’s tons of other reasons. Habitat is a lot of it. Disease, although not related to the iodine.”
Provenza did ultimately support Schmid’s amendment because she thinks the science is mixed on how effective the technology is and would like to see more research.
The defunding amendment passed the House and its Senate committee, and is awaiting full Senate consideration.
