Sunday, January 1, 2006

Cloud-seeding in Wyoming Here's an article from the Denver Post about the cloud-seeding program up in Wyoming [January 1, 2006, "Research to tickle the clouds for answer Does seeding bring rain or snow?"]. They write, "Breed expects to spend the end of January in Wyoming, beginning to collect data for the study. He and his colleagues will decide what types of clouds to seed next winter, with silver oxide dust sprayed from aircraft or sent up from ground burners. "'There isn't much question about the theory or concept of cloud seeding,' Breed said. 'The problem is trying it on a large scale, on mountainous terrain. ...' "Promising clouds for seeding hold droplets of supercooled water, several degrees below freezing, he said. Water below zero degrees Fahrenheit still won't freeze unless it has something to initiate the process, such as a speck of dust or ice. "Silver iodide particles work beautifully. The chemicals have been used successfully in snowblowers, and in limited experiments to dissipate rare types of fog. "Companies in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana and other states have practiced cloud seeding on a larger scale for decades, Breed said. Results have never have been clear, but it's a relatively inexpensive endeavor." Category: Colorado Water 10:45:21 AM     Runoff from oil and gas drilling The Denver Post has a report today about the move by green conservatives and environmentalists to have the State Water Quality Control Division regulate runoff from oil and gas wells. From the article, "In what promises to be one of the biggest showdowns over water quality in the new year, a state commission will decide next week whether it should continue to regulate stormwater runoff from oil and gas wells. The booming oil and gas industry says that job belongs to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which issues drilling permits to energy companies. A coalition of farmers, environmentalists, West Slope towns and counties argue that the state water- quality control commission should continue to make sure oil and gas wells aren't oozing muck into nearby waterways." Category: Colorado Water 10:36:18 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 10:56:24 AM.