The recipient shall investigate the feasibility of cloud seeding as a means to balance climate variability and water management in the region

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded a $152,000 Project Grant under the Applied Science Grants program (CFDA 15.557) to the North Unit Irrigation District in Madras, Oregon. The purpose of the grant is to investigate the feasibility of using cloud seeding as a means to balance climate variability and improve water management in the Deschutes Basin region of Oregon.

The key activities to be performed under this grant include: 1) Developing a high-resolution weather model to simulate cloud cover, temperature, and wind conditions over multiple winter seasons; and 2) Evaluating the model results to determine the seedability of storms and the feasibility of using cloud seeding to augment snowpack in the Deschutes Basin. The grant recipient will contract with regional and national experts to review the modeling results and documentation at various stages of the project. The final report and deliverables from this study are intended to inform water resource managers about the potential to use cloud seeding as a strategy to address climate variability and water management challenges in the region.

Activities

Task 1: development of cloud seeding model. This task includes the following: a qualified contractor will develop a highresolution weather model that can produce three dimensional results on an hourly timestep. The model will output clouds, temperature, and wind data. Inputs of the model will include regional weather data from the NWS and other publicly available sources. The contractor will produce multiple winters of simulations that will be used for task two.task 2: evaluation of model results for feasibility of cloud seeding. This task includes the following: a qualified contractor will take the modeling results and determine the seedability of storms by analyzing temperature, vertical and horizontal wind components, and atmospheric stability. The model needs to show the storms deschutes basin cloud seeding feasibility investigation 8 simulated are cold enough that seeding materials can reach an activation temperature and wind direction needs to ensure materials can be dispersed. Results will be documented in a report reviewed by regional experts at the 30% draft report, 60% draft report, 90% draft report, and final report. Task 3: report review process. This task includes the following: north unit irrigation district will contract with regional and national experts to review and comment on the initial results and associated documentation and review and comment on the 60% draft report, and 90% draft report. Webinar presentation. Reclamation may request the recipient to participate in a reclamation-sponsored webinar to discuss application of deliverables to management questions. The presentation should inform reclamation about project accomplishments, the final results of the identified tasks, and any lessons learned.expected deliverables or outcomes: for the feasibility of cloud seeding as a means to balance climate variability and water management in other regions for snow pack to have water.

Intended beneficiaries

Public, anyone interested in the data and methods for cloud seedingsubrecipient activities (if known or specified at time of award): NA