An Arizona water agency has declined to keep funding a program to increase snowfall in the mountains that supply the Colorado River. The decision reflects concerns about cost and whether customers would receive any additional water.
Here’s what to know
The Central Arizona Project operates a 336-mile canal system delivering Colorado River water to communities around Phoenix and Tucson, according to KJZZ. Its board narrowly voted against funding the next phase of a multistate cloud-seeding partnership it joined in 2007.
Studies show that cloud seeding can increase mountain snowfall, although the size of the increase is hard to measure. The technique encourages existing clouds to release moisture by introducing particles into the air.
The proposed agreement would cap each agency’s annual contribution at $525,000 in 2027, with that limit rising gradually to $750,000 by 2036. Together, water agencies in Arizona, California, and Nevada have contributed about $1.5 million a year to upstream cloud-seeding efforts.
More background
Beyond questions about cost, the funding debate reflects an increasingly tense dispute over how to share the shrinking Colorado River…