Cloud seeding still impossible till September

Cloud seeding still impossible till September

JAKARTA (JP): Cloud seeding for the drought-hit West Java is
impossible until September, but officials guarantee that
irrigation water for 288,385 hectares of paddy fields will be
sufficient until then.

Weather conditions like wind velocity and cloud thickness are
not conducive to making artificial rain, said the president of
the Jatiluhur Authorities, Mochamad Ulama, who oversees the giant
Jatiluhur Dam in Purwakarta.

The multi-purpose Jatiluhur reservoir, together with Saguling,
Cirata and Juanda, forms the backbone of West Java's irrigation
water supply.

The present dry spell, which has threatened thousands of
hectares of food crops in West Java and elsewhere in Java, has
prompted calls for the government to carry out cloud seeding.

Ulama said the Jatiluhur authority has set aside Rp 200
million (US$92,500) for cloud seeding.

"The water supply for the 288,385 hectares of rice fields in
the northern coastal areas is safe and we have a surplus of 2.5
billion cubic meters of water, which is enough until October," he
said as quoted by Antara.

He acknowledged that the current dry season has dropped the
water levels of major reservoirs in the province an average of
one meter. (pan)