Public Works and Utilities Committee — Mon, Sep 21, 2026 · 6.c Supercool Earth, Potential Cloud Seeding to Enhance Santa Fe Water Resource Availability. (Jesse Roach, Interim Public Utilities Department Director; jdroach@santafenm.gov)
Supercool Earth reliable precipitation Supercool is making it rain and snow on demand More water from clouds Our protein based cloud seeding technology can increase precipitation in targeted locations Protein, found in nature Pure protein, biodegradable, non-toxic Precipitation delivery platform We produce the protein, run the seeding operations, and deliver the water. As a water innovation leader with a discrete local watershed and a need for additional water, Santa Fe is an ideal pilot partner for Supercool. Early adopters like Santa Fe will shape how this technology is deployed. Supercool will begin field trials this winter with utilities, water districts, and ski resorts. 1Confidential A snapshot of Supercool Earth Mission To make water supply more predictable What are we doing? Next-generation cloud seeding using a natural, biodegradable protein. We are not using the persistent chemicals used in traditional cloud seeding More Water 2x more water than traditional cloud seeding. We can reach warmer clouds that older methods cannot, with a more active protein Why are we doing it? Weather is growing less predictable and water is a resource under strain. We help deliver it to the communities that need it. Supercool’s protein naturally occurs in snowpack, rain, and soil. Supercool’s protein breaks down rapidly in soil and water See full reference list on slide 8 [ref] Proteins are made up of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur Green = carbon Blue = nitrogen Red = oxygen [ref] Proteins are inactivated and broken down via two methods: A.) Native microbial degradation is the main method: 1. Microbes release enzymes to chew up proteins 2. Proteins are broken into amino acids 3. Natural microbes eat the amino acids B.) Chemical processes will also break down proteins by sun exposure (UV radiation), pH, minerals, and temperature. Biologicals found in rainfall in Colorado rainfall biological in rainfall Researchers have detected ice nucleating biological particles in snow, rain, hail, and cloud water at sites in Virginia, Montana, Canada, Colorado, Antarctica, and France. No study has looked and failed to find them. New Mexico has not been sampled specifically, but it has in neighboring Colorado, where the particles were also present, Soil microorganisms produce these ice nucleating particles. Natural processes lift them into the atmosphere, where they reach clouds. This is a natural mechanism. It contributes to precipitation formation. UfJ(llflflf~ Supercool's proteins are safe for the watershed. The key question is - how much snow we can make in the target area? Primary Mission Parameters: Delivery method: Fixed-wing drone with an onboard protein dispersal system Flight path: West of the watershed, targeting atmospheric conditions that direct precipitation onto the catchment area in Feb-March 2027 Mission duration: 30 minutes maximum, single flight line Protein volume per mission: Approximately 100 grams (roughly the size of a golf ball) for a 20km long flight line Supercool’s dried powder protein formulation Supercool’s fixed wing plane from Applied Aeronautics (10kg max weight) 6 ● Generating lower amounts of precipitation has higher success rates ● The probability that we can generate more than 200 AF/month is high (~80%) ● Generating more than 600 AF/month is likely (>40%) 200 AF/Month: Achievable Based on Historical Storm Patterns Natural precipitation and supercooled liquid water for a single hour. Supercooled liquid water is cloud water that stays liquid below freezing. Seeding turns it into snow. Estimated Precipitation Enhancement for Nichols and McClure Basins 1.0,---------------------------------------, 0.8 0.2 Threshold - > 100 af - > 500 af - > 200 af - > 600 af - > 300 af - > 700 af - > 400 af - > 800 afPREC_TOTAL [mm/t,our] SLW?[kg/m'] 0.0-'--~------,-------~------~------~-------~~ OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR Month Proposed SF Watershed Pilot February or March 2027 Estimated Water Yield: 50-200 AF Cost: $5000, or approximately $50/AF assuming ½ of extra snow ends up in McClure (instead of sublimating or evaporating before it gets there) Value: Santa Fe River Water is preferred source for utility. Energy costs to move BDD water up to Santa Fe are approximately $100 - $400/AF depending on time of day and year, so paying $50/AF for more water in McClure is, according to City of Santa Fe Water, a “no-brainer” Attribution: We compare observations (surface gauges and weather radar) with simulated seeded and unseeded outcomes to estimate each mission’s seeding impact and its statistical significance. No-Go: If El Nino delivers a wet winter and as of February 1st City of Santa Fe Water expects to be able to fill Nichols and McClure, the pilot will be pushed to 2028 Permit Status Category Permit Status (as of 08-28-2026) Protein EPA TSCA - for commercial use only Not required during R&D phase Drone FAA altitude and BVLOS waivers Filing in progress New Mexico NM Cloud Seeding Permits Active engagement with Interstate Stream Comm New Mexico Forest Service Permit Preparation underway New Mexico Determination of Nominal Effects Preparation underway Supercool will not conduct field operations until all required permits and determinations are secured. We are committed to transparency with regulators, partners, and the public throughout our work. Dacia Leon, PhD Co-Founder / CEO Molecular biologist. Product builder. 7 years in biotech. Zymergen • Decibel • Sound Michelle Grau, PhD Co-Founder / CTO Fungal biologist. Discovery leader. 6 years in biotech. Zymergen • Hexagon Bio Wolfgang Langhans, PhD Head of Atmospheric Science Cloud physicist. Weather modeling expert. 15+ years in atmos science. Berkeley Lab • Sofar Team Supercool combines scientific rigor with a commitment to the environment Steph Patchett, PhD Senior Scientist Molecular biologist. Protein expression expert. UT Austin · NYU Med School Olaf Dietz Hardware Engineer MechE student. Dispersal system design and integration. Johns Hopkins University References for: Supercool’s protein naturally occurs in snowpack, rain, and soil Christner, B. C., Cai, R., Morris, C. E., McCarter, K. S., Foreman, C. M., Skidmore, M. L., Montross, S. N., and Sands, D. C. (2008). Geographic, seasonal, and precipitation chemistry influence on the abundance and activity of biological ice nucleators in rain and snow. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(48), 18854–18859. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0809816105 Christner, B. C., Morris, C. E., Foreman, C. M., Cai, R., and Sands, D. C. (2008). Ubiquity of biological ice nucleators in snowfall. Science, 319, 1214. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1149757 Huffman, J. A., Prenni, A. J., DeMott, P. J., Pöhlker, C., Mason, R. H., Robinson, N. H., et al. (2013). High concentrations of biological aerosol particles and ice nuclei during and after rain. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 13, 6151–6164. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6151-2013 Kunert, A. T., Pöhlker, M. L., Tang, K., Krevert, C. S., Wieder, C., Speth, K. R., et al. (2019). Macromolecular fungal ice nuclei in Fusarium: effects of physical and chemical processing. Biogeosciences, 16, 4647–4659. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4647-2019 O'Sullivan, D., Murray, B. J., Ross, J. F., Whale, T. F., Price, H. C., Atkinson, J. D., Umo, N. S., and Webb, M. E. (2015). The relevance of nanoscale biological fragments for ice nucleation in clouds. Scientific Reports, 5, 8082. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08082 Petters, M. D., and Wright, T. P. (2015). Revisiting ice nucleation from precipitation samples. Geophysical Research Letters, 42, 8758–8766. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065733 References for: Supercool’s protein breaks down rapidly in soil and water Jan, M. T., Roberts, P., Tonheim, S. K., and Jones, D. L. (2009). Protein breakdown represents a major bottleneck in nitrogen cycling in grassland soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 41(11), 2272–2282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2009.08.013 Jilling, A., Keiluweit, M., Contosta, A. R., Frey, S., Schimel, J., Schnecker, J., Smith, R. G., Tiemann, L., and Grandy, A. S. (2018). Minerals in the rhizosphere: overlooked mediators of soil nitrogen availability to plants and microbes. Biogeochemistry, 139(2), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0459-5 Lundeen, R. A., Janssen, E. M.-L., Chu, C., and McNeill, K. (2014). Environmental photochemistry of amino acids, peptides and proteins. Chimia, 68(11), 812–819. https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2014.812