The company, Rainmaker, argues the test is a breakthrough and proof that its tech will help fight drought and protect water systems<\/a> across the country. <\/p>\n \u201cIn the future, Rainmaker will protect and restore glaciers with man-made snowfall,\u201d CEO Augustus Doricko wrote on X after the demo. \u201cImmediately, this demonstration shows how Rainmaker will add new water to the Colorado River and Great Salt Lake in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n Rainmaker, which says it\u2019s the first private company to \u201cunambiguously prove\u201d its cloud seeding<\/a> technologies work at scale, conducted the test above Alaska\u2019s Kenai Peninsula. It has previously conducted validated cloud-seeding in Utah, Idaho and Oregon, according to the company. <\/p>\n Rainmaker uses drones<\/a> and advanced weather-monitoring software to target clouds with silver iodide, which encourages the formation of ice crystals and ultimately precipitation as rain or snow. <\/p>\n The company, founded in 2023, has inked contracts with Western states and water systems, and it has raised more than $50 million from investors.<\/p>\n Rainmaker was previously the target of unfounded claims from conspiracy theorists that it caused deadly Texas flooding.<\/p>\n It has spent an estimated $450,000 on federal lobbying in 2025, according to E&E News, and has funded advertisements in Washington, D.C. to make the case to the public and lawmakers about its technology. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople have had very, very legitimate questions about what cloud seeding is and whether it\u2019s safe and whether it should be allowed at all,\u201d Doricko told the outlet in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first priority is just making sure that America and American farms and communities have the option to use this technology,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Scientists and local officials have been experimenting with cloud-seeding since the mid-1900s.<\/p>\n The climate crisis, coupled with advances in drone, weather monitoring and AI technology, have all helped spur a new wave of companies working on cloud-seeding.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking at a really, really kind of dire situation, drastic times and we\u2019ve got to be smart with the water we have,\u201d Joel Ferry, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, told<\/a> The Washington Post earlier this year. \u201cWe can\u2019t be stuck in kind of the old ways. And a big part of that is using cloud seeding.\u201d<\/p>\n The practice is regarded as a promising tool, though climate experts emphasize that cloud seeding alone cannot offset the impacts of the climate crisis and ongoing megadroughts. <\/p>\n![\"Rainmaker,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B003-STRINGOUT-01_44_04_00-Still002.jpg\")
Rainmaker, a cloud seeding start-up, used drones in Alaska to generate roughly 19 million gallons of water in a recent test (Rainmaker)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B003-STRINGOUT-01_29_07_21-Still001.jpg\")
The company hopes to use its technology to protect glaciers and fill drought-starved Western water systems (Rainmaker)<\/p>\n