Cedar Park, Texas is a bustling city with a production capacity of 34.7 mgd and an average demand of 14.59 mgd. The Texas air monitoring network consists of more than 200 monitoring stations that serve more than 25 million Texans across the state. The Texas Legislature adopted a law in 1967 that regulated the use of weather modification technologies, such as cloud seeding, to reduce the impact of periodic droughts. Cloud seeding is a process that involves releasing particles into the atmosphere to increase rainfall and groundwater recharge over large areas.
This process has been used in Texas since the 1950s, with state and federal governments providing funding to research and evaluate its impact. One of the largest water conservation districts in Texas also carries out cloud seeding operations to increase rainfall and groundwater recharge over the Ogallala aquifer. In the second half of the nineties, a coordinated program funded by the State was launched to strengthen convective clouds and promote their growth and capacity to produce rainwater. The TPWMA planes are based at Pecos, Fort Stockton or Alpine airports, and the seeding missions are led by a San Angelo-based meteorologist.
The seven cloud seeding projects currently cover about 31 million acres (roughly one-sixth of the state's land area). As each of the rainfall improvement projects was established in recent years, matching state funds were allocated to sponsoring groups so that they could purchase the necessary equipment. The PGWCD project has access to cloud systems moving from Oklahoma to its target area, which currently consists of nearly 4.1 million acres in the eastern sector of the Texas Panhandle. The TDLR allows each of the projects described above, and each permit covers a period that can last up to four years.
Texas has one of the strongest air monitoring networks in the country. This network helps the TCEQ monitor compliance with federal air quality standards, providing information in response to localized air quality problems, assessing air pollution trends, and studying the formation and behavior of air pollution. The EAA reduced the size of its target area (now the main drainage area of the Edwards Aquifer) and turned to existing rainfall improvement projects based in Pleasanton to provide aerial and technical cover for its recently redefined objective. The way in which the Association obtained its airplanes and radars and hired its permanent staff, in 1997-98, to become an autonomous project served as a prototype for other rain improvement programs that materialized in Texas in the following years.
In addition, the TCEQ can prioritize the placement of monitors in areas with potential air quality problems or address local issues related to air quality. The expected impact on air and water quality due to these projects is significant. Cloud seeding operations have been proven to increase rainfall and groundwater recharge over large areas. The strong air monitoring network helps ensure compliance with federal air quality standards while providing information on localized air quality problems.
Finally, these projects have served as prototypes for other rain improvement programs across Texas.
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