Snow in the Victorian Alps is getting harder to count on. The 2023 and 2024 seasons both ranked among Australia's ten worst on record, and CSIRO projects that maximum snow depth at Mt Buller could fall by 40 to 80% by 2050, even under a low-emissions scenario. That matters well beyond the slopes: Victoria's alpine resorts generate $2.14 billion a year and support more than 12,000 jobs, over 2,000 of them in surrounding shires.

The same snow feeds the rivers that fill Lake Eildon and supply farms across northern Victoria. After consecutive years of below-average inflows, northern Victoria's water storages are at their lowest since 2020.

The existing options have limits. Snowmaking uses large amounts of water and energy, covers only groomed runs, and depends on cold nights that are becoming less frequent. Desalination serves Melbourne and the coast, but isn't practical for towns and farms this far inland.

We think Rainmaker can help. Cloud seeding adds snow from storms already passing overhead, across the whole snowfield and the catchments below it. This trial is how we'll find out, together with the community, how much difference it can make here.