I came across this last week, and thought it was certainly an
interesting way of addressing New Zealand’s mining issues. The
conversation around whether, and if so to what extent, New
Zealand should mine its national parks for mineral resources is
a heated (haha) one. And, I might add, not one into which I’m
going to assert myself. Now, someone* has gone and suggested
another way that New Zealand could benefit from mining but, wait
for it, without having to open ground at all. How, you say? By
water mining. Yes, dear readers, you read that correctly. Water
mining. Now, I know the term evoked for me images of men with
shovels**, down shafts, trying vainly to lift water. Or
something. But it’s not that at all. Instead, it basically means
harvesting the inevitable product of cloud seeding – water. And,
certainly, atmospheric moisture which could be turned into
rain/snow is something of which we’re not short. Not at all. I
live in Wellington, and sometimes would be quite happy if it
were less…precipitous…here. So