With a 'megadrought ' forecast to hit the US in the coming decades , parched states are turning to increasingly radical solutions to fill their reservoirs . Arizona is leading the way with plans to create artificial rain clouds by flying planes over the Rockies and seeding the sky with silver iodide . They hope the technology will allow them to mitigate some of the worst impacts of climate change – but not everyone is convinced . With a 'megadrought ' forecast to hit the US in the coming decades , parched states are turning to increasingly radical solutions to fill their reservoirs . Arizona is leading the way with plans to create artificial rain clouds by flying planes over the Rockies , and seeding the sky with silver iodide . The process of cloud seeding was first proposed in the 1940s at the General Electric labs in Schenectady , New York . Two decades later , the Central Arizona Project and the Salt River Project invested in research to make it a reality . 'It has n't been taken off the table as a potential tool as we work our way through drought now and in the future , ' Nancy Selover , Arizona 's state climatologist told Becky Brisley at Cronkite News . Since 2007 , CAP has put about $ 1 million toward research happening in other states to increase the supply of water in the Colorado River system . Water in the air , even in dry areas , can be transformed into ice crystals by using planes to seed the atmosphere with chemicals such as silver iodide or dry ice . If it seems like it never stops raining , blame the Russians . Or even the North Koreans . CIA chiefs fear hostile nations are trying to manipulate the world 's weather , a conference heard in February . A leading academic told how he got a mysterious phone call asking whether foreign countries could be triggering droughts or flooding . Professor Alan Robock , from Rutgers University in New Jersey , said : 'Consultants working for the CIA rang and said we 'd like to know if someone is controlling the world 's climate would we know about it ? 'Of course they were also asking - if we control someone else 's climate would they then know about it . ' The professor is one of many scientists from around the world are actively looking at manipulating the weather as a way of combating climate change . Professor Robock told the callers that any attempts to meddle with the weather on a large scale would be detectable . The system works on the premise that rainfall takes place when supercooled droplets of water form ice crystals . As a result they become too heavy to remain suspended in the air , and fall , often melting on their way down to form rain . Water in the air , even in dry areas , can be transformed into ice crystals by seeding the atmosphere with chemicals such as silver iodide or dry ice . They create rain by inducing nucleation – a process in which water is in the air condenses around the particles and crystallises to form ice . But some scientists are concerned about silver building up in river basins , as well as legal uncertainties over who should get the additional water . Compared to other alternatives , such as desalinating seawater , cloud seeding is the cheapest option , though it is n't going to be a drought-buster on its own . In a recent Wyoming Weather Modification pilot project , the technology resulted in an increase of seasonal snow water accumulations of 5 to 15 per cent . But Selover , the state climatologist , told Cronkite News that the trickiest part of cloud seeding is measuring whether an area got more rainfall . 'So the effectiveness of it is in doubt , ' she said . 'It 's not that it 's completely ineffective – they 're pretty sure it has some impact – but it 's pretty hard to measure . ' Some scientists are concerned about silver building up in river basins , as well as legal uncertainties over who should get the additional water . Pictured is Lake Powell , near Page , Arizona .
Central Arizona Project invested $ 1 million to research cloud seeding . The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and NASA, but it's not a government agency. Some scientists are concerned about silver building up in river basins . There are also legal uncertainties over who should get additional water .