Project Info

Weather Modification in the Upper Basin of the Colorado River

The Colorado River Basin faces extreme water shortage due natural hydrologic variability and human decisions. The Upper Basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah) are working to address this shortage through a number of different means. Core to these strategies is the practice of weather modification (a.k.a., cloud seeding) — an activity that has been occurring in the Rockies with surprising consistency for a remarkably long time. This project will take up the questions of (a) whether cloud seeding works, (b) why so many typically differing water stakeholders agree on its importance, and (c) its prospects for improving the future water sustainability of the arid American West.

More Information

Cloud seeding may make it snow, but will it reduce droughts in the West?

Grand Engineering Challenge: Provide access to clean water

Student Preparation

Qualifications

— an interest in water issues in the American West and globally (coursework in water policy/politics is a plus)
— basic earth/environmental science knowledge
— demonstrated ability to conduct literature review work (peer-reviewed and not; contemporary and historical) without supervision
— good writing skills
— an interest in engaging in a small amount of supervised qualitative fieldwork (e.g., stakeholder interviews)
— GIS skills are not required but a major plus

Time Commitment

20-25 hours/month

Skills/Techniques Gained

Skills that are a plus for students with an interest in careers at the science-policy interface, including: (a) improved research and writing skills, (b) exposure to social science research methods, (c) practice with interdisciplinary inquiry

Mentoring Plan

Student will meet in person with mentor once every two weeks, and likely more often at project start/finish. Regular email communication. Collaborative development with student of project scope and timeline, as well as intermediate and final deliverables.