Learn more about Colorado's weather modification project that's taking shape

Colorado has been using cloud seeding as far back as the 1950s, but an all-new weather modification project in Colorado is taking shape on the Eastern Plains. Located in Gill, in Weld County, it's not the kind of cloud seeding most people picture. There's no plane and no silver iodide flare.

Rain Enhancement Technologies is using a ground-based system called WETA, which is short for weather enhancement technology array.

"What problem for Coloradans are you trying to solve?" CBS Colorado asked Rain Enhancement Technologies CEO Randy Seidl.

"One that's probably top of mind for everybody, which is just the tremendous water shortage," Seidl said. "Traditionally, cloud seeding that happens during the winter time. This was obviously a lousy snow year, so there's not enough water for spring, summer, fall. And that's where we come in."

Here's how it works:

In simplest terms, electricity generated by solar panels powers the ground-based WETA station. The system electrically charges naturally occurring particles near the ground, and wind currents carry those charged particles higher into the atmosphere.

According to Rain Enhancement Technologies, the charged particles can eventually reach an existing cloud and help small water droplets grow into larger raindrops.

The company emphasizes that the system cannot create a storm or produce rain from clear skies. Instead, it claims the technology can enhance precipitation from clouds that are already present by 10% to 20%.

That means if rain is already possible, the company says its system could help produce more of it. If the atmosphere is dry and no rain chances exist, the system cannot make it rain.

The technology is being marketed to farmers, water districts, and other groups looking to increase their available water supply.

The major question is whether it works as advertised in Colorado. Rain Enhancement Technologies points to results from projects elsewhere, but there is not yet enough local data to determine how much additional precipitation the Weld County system has produced.

The project is permitted to continue operating through at least the end of the year, which will allow for a deeper analysis of the data.