(The Center Square) – In the wake of the historic July 4 flash floods in the Hill Country, several online pundits and others are claiming that the excessive rainfall and flash flooding were caused by weather manipulation and cloud seeding operations.
Not only is the Hill Country known for flash floods, but the Texas legislature implemented the first cloud seeding program in west Texas in 1955. Since then, multiple counties are involved in projects spanning millions of acres, all regulated by the state.
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The Hill Country is known for flash floods for several reasons including warm air that travels from the Gulf of America and hits the Balcones Escarpment. The term, escarpment, comes from the 1540 Spanish Coronado Expedition referring to a unique landscape of steep slopes that look like steps. The Balcones Escarpment lies where a geological fault created cliffs, steep hills, a different type of soil, a cooler climate and tree-filled landscapes – giving the Hill Country its moniker. The winding Guadeloupe River, and others, make Central Texas a popular vacation destination.
The Hill Country located in “Central Texas has been identified as the most flash flood prone area in the United States by the National Weather Service and has often been referred to as flash flood alley,” The Guadeloupe River Authority explains in a 10-minute informational video promoting flood awareness in 2017. The authority is one of several that manages water supply and conservation for 10 counties, including monitoring the river that brought devastation to communities in Kerr and surrounding counties.
“Kerr County has a history of monstrous and devastating flash floods. Whether you are in a home you have lived in your entire life or at a vacation cottage, understanding your flood risk and being connected to emergency warnings is essential,” the authority says, also listing emergency precautions to take.
Cloud seeding operations began in response to a severe drought in the 1950s and are licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Current operations span millions of acres in the northwest, west, and southern regions of Texas.
Some projects used ground-based generators to disperse agents like silver iodide, others use aircraft to release seeding materials, like dry ice, into cloud formations, the Texas Comptroller’s Office explains. Cloud seeding is used to facilitate creating more rain, lessen fog, suppress hail, or steer “a potentially heavy rainstorm away from a populated area.”
The legislature first created the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District in 1955. It now includes Carson, Donley, Gray, Roberts and Wheeler counties and parts of Armstrong, Hutchinson and Potter counties, covering 4.1 million acres. It oversees multiple programs, including “precipitation enhancement,” cloud seeding, run by a meteorologist. Two pilots operate airplanes “to stimulate clouds to generate more rainfall than they would otherwise through the introduction of seeding agents, such as silver iodide,” it explains.
In 1967, the state legislature regulated weather modification through the Texas Weather Modification Act. Decades later, the state matched funds totaling nearly $12 million to assist groups with purchasing cloud seeding equipment between 1997 and 2004.
In 1995, the West Texas Weather Modification Association launched and is “the longest active weather modification project in the state,” the comptroller’s office says. Its efforts have boosted rainfall by an additional 15% every year, according to official studies. It acts as a convective rain enhancement project for six counties and the city of San Angelo, covering 6.4 million acres between San Angelo and Midland.
In 2003, the Trans Pecos Weather Modification Association was created, which includes the Ward County Irrigation District and political subdivisions in Culberson, Loving, Pecos, Reeves and Ward counties. Its target area includes 5.1-million-acres along the Pecos River. It’s run by a meteorologist based in San Angelo; pilots fly aircraft out of Pecos, Fort Stockton and Alpine.
Two other state licensed groups include the Rolling Plains Water Enhancement Project and the South Texas Weather Modification Association. The RPWEP includes several counties located north of Abilene with a 3.5 million target area extending east toward the Red River Valley. The STWMA, based in Pleasanton, south of San Antonio, targets roughly six million acres stretching from the Edwards Plateau to the coastal bend region. It includes a partnership among the Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District, the Live Oak Underground Water Conservation District, and a county commission.
CENTRAL TEXAS FLASH FLOODS LEAVE MORE THAN 100 DEAD: WHAT TO KNOW
Cloud seeding was included in a 2022 Texas Water Development Board state plan, which estimates that weather modification could provide 5,000 acre-feet of water per year for irrigation by 2070, accounting for 1% of recommended strategies for water supply.
This legislative session, two Republican state senators, Bryan Hughes and Tan Parker, filed SB 1154 to ban weather modification. It did not pass.