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Validated Winter Results from La Sal Mountains Establish Ground-Based Ionization as the Most Cost-Effective Incremental Water Supply Option Available to Western Water Managers
NAPLES, FL / ACCESS Newswire / June 9, 2026 / RAIN Enhancement Technologies Holdco, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIN), a leading provider of ionization rainfall generation technology, today reported validated winter results showing that its Weather Enhancement Technology Array (WETA) delivers new water at $10 per acre-foot. The figure, drawn from the Company's La Sal Mountains deployment in Utah, undercuts desalination, demand management, recycled water, and groundwater recharge by margins of more than 95 percent. WETA operated continuously at La Sal from mid-November 2025 through March 2026, producing an estimated 8,750 acre-feet of incremental water across the season.
The comparison arrives at a critical moment for water managers across the American West. A record-dry winter in 2025-2026 has left regional reservoirs significantly below normal, accelerating pressure on agencies to identify new incremental supply. The conventional alternative supply options share a common profile: high capital costs, long permitting timelines measured in years, and significant ongoing operational expense. WETA deploys in weeks from a single ground-based installation, requires no chemicals and no on-site personnel, and operates continuously and autonomously.
"Water managers across the West are being asked to find new supply with budgets that won't cover pipelines, desalination plants, or decade-long permitting battles," said Randy Seidl, Chief Executive Officer of Rain Enhancement Technologies. "The La Sal results give us something the industry has never had: a validated cost per acre-foot for ground-based ionization, independently reviewed. At $10 per acre-foot, WETA is in a different category from every alternative on the table. And unlike infrastructure projects that take years to produce a single gallon, WETA is operational in weeks."
Analog year comparison, ridge regression counterfactual modeling, and Bayesian Structural Time Series (BSTS) analysisall converged on the same finding. SWE enhancement of more than one inch was sustained throughout the season at La Sal Upper, persisting even through a period of record-warm temperatures and active snowmelt in February 2026.
Across the winter season, WETA produced a calculated 8,750 acre-feet of incremental water from a single ground-based installation covering 100 square miles. That figure represents approximately 2.85 billion gallons, enough to supply roughly 26,000 households for a full year. The results are particularly notable given that the 2025-2026 winter was the driest on record, with below-average snowpack at all regional sites. These conditions would have significantly curtailed traditional cloud seeding operations. Results were reviewed and validated by Dr. Binod Pokharel, Utah State University.
"The La Sal analysis applied three statistically independent methods, each with different assumptions and different potential failure modes, and all three reached the same conclusion," said Dr. Pokharel. "The results from this season are consistent with precipitation enhancement due to ionization. These results reflect actual observed performance under challenging conditions, not modeled projections. I am encouraged by this outcome and look forward to continued operation and scientific testing in future seasons."
"What makes the La Sal economics compelling is that the cost figure is derived directly from measured performance, not assumptions," said Dr. Jeffrey Chagnon, Senior Meteorologist at Rain Enhancement Technologies. "The 8,750-acre-foot figure reflects what the analysis actually shows happened on the ground during the driest winter on record, and that is what makes the cost comparison to conventional alternatives meaningful."
Water agencies evaluating new supply face four conventional options, all requiring significant capital investment and multi-year permitting. Recycled water starts at $180 per acre-foot and rises with treatment requirements. Demand management programs, which pay agricultural users to forgo irrigation, run roughly $390 per acre-foot and redistribute existing allocations rather than creating new supply. Groundwater recharge carries a similar median of $390 per acre-foot, with site-specific costs ranging from $90 to more than $1,100.
Desalination is the most expensive option, running $800 to $1,400 per acre-foot for coastal installations and exceeding $3,000 per acre-foot for inland Colorado River Basin projects, with high energy use, brine disposal challenges, and five to ten years of permitting and construction before producing first water.
Against this backdrop, WETA's validated cost of $10 per acre-foot on a 10-year payment plan ($17 per acre-foot on a 5-year plan) reflects the full annual system cost, including spring-through-fall operations at no additional charge. The system requires no chemical inputs, no aircraft, and no on-site personnel -- and unlike every alternative on the list, it leaves a minimal, reversible footprint on the landscape and displaces no existing water rights.
RET has been clear that WETA is not intended to replace existing cloud seeding programs, which operate within specific temperature and cloud-type windows using silver iodide. WETA fills the gap that those programs cannot cover, operating across a wider range of atmospheric conditions, temperatures, and seasons. The competitive context for WETA is the infrastructure budget -- the capital allocation decisions water agencies face when evaluating pipelines, desalination facilities, demand management contracts, and recycled water systems.
Additional instrumentation at the La Sal Range is planned for 2026, and year-round WETA operations targeting warm-season precipitation are ongoing. Final seasonal reporting incorporating completed model runs is available on request. The La Sal deployment represents the first complete winter operational period for a WETA installation in the United States.
About Rain Enhancement Technologies, Inc.
Rain Enhancement Technologies was founded to provide the world with reliable access to water, one of life's most important resources. To achieve this mission, RET develops, manufactures, and commercializes ionization precipitation generation technology that enhances rainfall and snowpack to address water scarcity challenges. The Company is also developing applications for fog mitigation to expand its weather modification capabilities. RET's chemical-free, solar-powered technology seeks to transform water resource management for businesses, society, and the planet. To learn more, go to www.investor.rainenhancement.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The disclosure herein includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "plan," "project," "forecast," "predict," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "outlook," and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, (1) statements regarding expected installation of the Company's technology; (2) references with respect to the anticipated benefits of the Company's WETA platform and technology; (3) references to the market opportunity for rain enhancement technologies and products; (4) the projected technological developments of RET; and (5) current and future potential commercial and customer relationships. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of RET's management, and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction, or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of RET. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, as set forth in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on April 16, 2025, as amended from time to time. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties above are not exhaustive, and there may be additional risks that Rain Enhancement Technologies, Inc. ("RETI") and RET do not presently know or that RETI and RET currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect RETI and RET's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. RETI and RET anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause RETI and RET's assessments to change. However, while RETI and RET Holdco may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, RETI and RET specifically disclaim any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing RETI and RET's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.
Media Contacts
Neal Stein
Technology PR Solutions
321-473-7407
nealjstein@techprsolutions.com
Linda Maynard
Rain Enhancement Technologies
(617) 869-4832
linda@rainenhancement.com
SOURCE: Rain Enhancement Technologies
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