Hydro cloud seeding program manager Ian Searle said the long dry spell had grounded seeding missions since November. Unsuitable clouds and an absence of cold fronts had created an unusual situation and had put the program on hold.
Searle was responding to criticism by Kempton farmer John Jones and Southern Midlands Mayor Colin Howlett who said cloud seeding was having a negative effect on the Midlands grazing region by taking crucial rainfall. They said the program aimed to release rain over Hydro dams, leaving the clouds dry over the Midlands.
But Searle said Hydro dams were at only 30 percent capacity and the Hydro, like everyone else, was waiting for rain.
"We all feel sorry for the farmers and understand their problems but we are not causing their problems," he said. "We have not done any seeding since last November because of a lack of the deep, water-abundant clouds that we need."
Searle said cloud seeding did not steal rain because the preferred cloud systems often proceeded right across the state.
Source: The Mercury
