11/11/2025 – 09:10 AM

Company’s WETA Ionization Technology Begins Operations in Gill, Colorado, Marking State’s First Warm Weather Modification Program

NAPLES, FL / ACCESS Newswire / November 11, 2025 / Rain Enhancement Technologies Holdco, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIN) (“RAIN” or the “Company”), a leading provider of ionization rainfall generation technology, today announced it has commenced operations of its first U.S. installation following approval of a Weather Modification Permit from the State of Colorado’s Water Conservation Board. The Company’s Weather Enhancement Technology Array (WETA) system, installed in Gill, Colorado, in October 2025, marks the state’s first warm weather modification program and is now operational under a permit valid through October 31, 2026, with the potential for a five-year renewal. The installation can enhance up to 360 square miles of agricultural land in Weld County, where the technology has the potential to increase rainfall by 15-18% based on peer-reviewed trials.

“This first U.S. installation represents a transformative milestone for Rain Enhancement Technologies as we bring our proven ionization technology to American agricultural communities,” said Randy Seidl, CEO of Rain Enhancement Technologies. “Colorado’s rigorous evaluation process and forward-thinking approach to water resource management validate the potential of our technology to address water scarcity challenges. We’re proud to pioneer the state’s first warm weather modification program at a time when innovative water solutions are critically needed.”

The ground-based WETA system operates by using electrical charge to create naturally occurring ionized aerosols, which then travel to cloud layers where they enhance condensation and stimulate precipitation. Unlike Colorado’s traditional cold weather cloud seeding that uses silver iodide, RAIN’s chemical-free, solar-powered approach harnesses natural atmospheric processes.

“After years of working with this groundbreaking technology internationally, it’s very exciting to see the growing interest in our solution to address the ongoing water shortage crisis,” said Scott Morris, Chief Technical Officer of Rain Enhancement Technologies. “With the first of our US installations to be deployed, we’re excited to demonstrate the real-world impact of ionization rainfall generation technology at scale. The Gill installation represents years of engineering refinement and will operate autonomously using solar power, making it both environmentally sustainable and cost-effective.”

This marks Colorado’s first warm weather seeding operation, differentiating it from existing cold weather programs in the state that use silver iodide to enhance snowpack. RAIN’s ionization technology has demonstrated effectiveness in warm weather conditions through international deployments, including a six-year trial in Oman’s Hajar Mountains, where results were published by the Royal Statistical Society showing statistically significant rainfall increases. The Colorado installation operates under strict regulatory oversight, including automatic suspension protocols during National Weather Service severe weather warnings, real-time weather monitoring capabilities, and coordination with local emergency management officials.

“We’re encouraged by the potential of this innovative technology to supplement water resources for Colorado’s agricultural communities,” said Andrew Rickert, Weather Modification Program Manager with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. “This program will provide valuable data on warm weather modification effectiveness while maintaining our rigorous safety and environmental standards. Rain Enhancement Technologies’ approach represents a new tool in our comprehensive water management strategy.”

The Colorado installation comes as western U.S. agriculture faces persistent drought conditions that have forced farmers to fallow fields, reduce livestock herds, and seek innovative water security solutions. Colorado’s agricultural sector, which consumes approximately 80% of the state’s developed water supply, continues to experience pressure from reduced water allocations and climate variability. The WETA system’s coverage area can enhance up to 360 square miles, encompassing 230,000 acres of agricultural land that could benefit from enhanced precipitation.

As part of the permit requirements, RAIN will conduct annual target-control evaluations, submit periodic performance reports to project sponsors, and provide detailed annual reports to the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The solar-powered system operates autonomously with minimal maintenance requirements and produces no environmental residue through its chemical-free ionization process.

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, RAIN aims to develop, manufacture, and commercialize ionization rainfall generation technology. This weather modification technology seeks to provide the world with reliable access to water and transform business, society, and the planet for the better. The Company is also developing applications for fog mitigation and snow enhancement to expand weather modification capabilities beyond rainfall generation. 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. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, (1) statements regarding expected benefits of the Company’s technology in Colorado; (2) references with respect to the anticipated rainfall increases; (3) references to permit renewals and future installations; (4) the projected effectiveness of the WETA system; and (5) potential expansion of operations. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of RAIN’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties as set forth in the Company’s filings with the SEC. If any of these risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that RAIN does not presently know or currently believes are immaterial. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. RAIN undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made except as required by law or applicable regulation.

Media Contact
Linda Maynard
Rain Enhancement Technologies
Phone: (617) 869-4832
Email: linda@rainenhancement.com

SOURCE: Rain Enhancement Technologies

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

The leaders of two Native American reservations in southern Colorado recently called the state’s ban on their ability to partake in online sports betting an extension of the “troubling legacy” of broken agreements between governments and the Tribes. 

A recent ruling by a federal court judge on the issue, along with a petroleum spill that has aggravated the relationship between the state and the Tribes, has apparently reopened old wounds. Healing them may happen in the coming weeks if the two sides can talk.

A money matter

Colorado voters narrowly approved legalized sports gambling here in November 2019. The amount of betting and the amount of tax paid to the state from it has grown substantially since then. In September alone, bettors from across the nation spent more than $99 million online with casinos in Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek.  

Reservation-based casinos are important to Native American economies. In 2023, tribally owned gaming operations nationally generated about $42 billion in revenue. Understandably, those reservations seek to maximize that cash flow. 

In Colorado, both the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes started sports betting platforms through their own casinos six months after voters gave online gambling the green light. The Southern Ute Tribe launched the Sky Ute SportsBook through its Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe started its own platform at its Ute Mountain Casino in Towaoc. 

According to court documents, the vendor for the Sky Ute Sportsbook received a letter from the Colorado Division of Gaming (CODOG) two weeks after it started. 

“[W]e believe that your company is participating in sports betting in Colorado on behalf of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe without complying with Colorado gaming law,” the letter stated. 

Later, the vendor working for the Ute Mountain Utes’ operation received the same letter.  

The gaming division advised the Tribes to apply for the state betting license, the same license that all other Colorado casinos are required to obtain. With that license would come a promise to pay 10% of net sports betting revenue to the state. The casinos declined, shut down their sports books and sued instead.

“The Tribes claim that Colorado’s actions made their sports betting operations challenging and more expensive,” Judge Gordon Gallagher summarized in last month’s ruling, “effectively freezing them out of the sports betting market.”

Last month, Gallagher dismissed the case.  

“Colorado explicitly authorized sports betting, a Class III game, throughout the state,” the Tribes complained in a joint press release following the judge’s decision. “But the State immediately stymied the ability of the Tribes to engage in that activity despite clear authorization under the Gaming Compacts, and instead, elected to benefit out-of-state gaming interests over its relationship with the Tribes. When the Tribes sought to challenge that conduct, the Administration chose to hide behind its immunity. These actions by the Polis Administration in refusing to honor the Gaming Compacts entered into with Colorado’s two federally-recognized Tribes represents one of the lowest points in State-Tribal relations in recent history.”

History

The first gambling approved on a Native American reservation came in 1979 when the Florida Seminoles opened a high-stakes bingo hall. Its legality was challenged, but the U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled it was a legal operation.

In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was enacted, giving way to the growth of casinos on reservation land. 

Much has changed since then. First, online sports gambling became legal in most states in 2018, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision. 

That same year, the Supreme Court struck down a 1992 federal law that banned commercial sports betting in most states. This spurred most states to authorize sports wagering, as Colorado did one year later. This gave those states regulatory authority over such gambling outside reservation boundaries. 

Of course, one of the most significant changes to occur was in technology.

“[B]ecause of the ability to place an online bet from a cellular phone or other electronic device, bettors can engage in gambling from
almost anywhere,” Judge Gallagher stated in his ruling. “If the gambler and roulette wheel were on Indian land, IGRA applied. However, in 2025, a gambler can be in Denver and the electronic game processed through a computer server on Southern Ute Indian Tribe land or Ute Mountain Ute Tribe land. Where then does the gaming occur?”

“This is a legal determination for the Court to make,” he stated.

In the end, Gallagher determined that any bet placed off-reservation is regulated by the state. 

“That distinction is crucial in this action and fatal to the Tribes’ case,” Gallagher wrote. “A myriad of gambling houses offer legal sports betting in the State of Colorado. To engage in this service, they must remit 10% to the State. The State of Colorado has offered this possibility to the Tribes.” 

Anger Spills Over

“The Tribe respects Judge Gallagher and appreciates the time he has given this issue,” the Tribes stated in their recent press release. “We believe a different result is mandated by federal law and will be evaluating how to move forward in the coming weeks.” 

But after that expression of hope, the Tribes’ sentiments took a very different tone. The press release referred to the “bitter irony” of the situation – a legal setback over gambling funds, most of which are directed at the state’s effort to protect its water resources, while the Southern Ute Tribe deals with a nearly year-old gasoline spill that threatens the Animas River. Groundwater contamination has forced several residents from their properties. 

In the months since CBS Colorado first reported the spill, the company whose pipeline is responsible for it has upgraded the extent of it, from 23,000 gallons to nearly 97,000. The spill is now the largest spill of its kind in Colorado since the state began tracking such incidents in 2016. 

“We are confident that had this spill been in Denver instead of a remote, rural part of the state, the response would have been more robust,” the two Tribes stated in the press release. “The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has expended its own resources to ensure the local waterways and resources are protected in our region. It has done so without a single dollar of the millions of dollars in revenue the State has collected from sports betting, and without the benefit of additional revenue from tribally-run sports betting that could have been relied upon had the Gaming Compact been honored.”

The Tribes claimed Colorado Gov. Jared Polis failed to participate in a recent conference call with state and Indigenous leaders about the spill.

“Yesterday’s cancelled call between Governor Polis and (Southern Ute) Chairman (Melvin J.) Baker reflects an alarming lack of urgency on the Governor’s part to work cooperatively with the Tribe on this spill – it brings to mind the troubling legacy of how states have historically disregarded Tribal relations, an approach that is wholly unacceptable in today’s society,” they said. “The history of relations between Tribes and the state and federal governments is one of broken Treaties and agreements. The Polis Administration’s conduct is a reminder that those things we think are an artifact of a distant past still exist today.”

A spokesperson from Gov. Polis’s office responded with a statement: 

“We deeply respect the government-to-government relationship the state has with the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian Tribes. We are glad that the court ruled in the state’s favor to ensure Colorado can continue to manage sports betting in a way that works best for Coloradans and our state, and continue funding important water projects around the state. We are dedicated to working together with the Tribes on gaming matters, and we look forward to ongoing conversations with the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian Tribes on this important issue.”  

Elsewhere

The issue is not Colorado’s alone. Today, Indian gaming, as it is called, is played in 29 states. There are 532 gaming operations, which include casinos, bingo halls, travel plazas and convenience stores. These are owned by 243 Tribes. In total, they grossed almost $44 billion in fiscal year 2024. 

However, according to Tribal Government Gaming, three of the 10 states containing the largest number of Tribes still do not have legal sports betting seven years after SCOTUS gave states the right to allow it. A ballot initiative is in the planning stages for 2028 in California. 

Congress could enact a national standard for online sports betting through tribal casinos, but has not taken up the issue. 

Adjacent to Colorado (from Tribal Government Gaming): 

• All of Arizona’s Tribes can offer in-person wagering and digital betting on the reservation. But off reservation, the 10 Tribes licensed to offer online sports betting are regulated by the state and pay the same 10% tax rate as commercial operators.  
• Nebraska voters agreed to legalize sports betting on the November 2020 ballot, and three years later, the first bets were taken. The Winnebago Tribe is a key player on the Nebraska gaming scene, but in this case, the Tribe is regulated and taxed by the state.
• Oklahoma Tribes are hoping to pursue legalizing sports betting when the current governor’s term limits are reached in 2027. 
• New Mexico’s Tribes have their own regulatory body and are not beholden to the state. They also do not pay taxes.  

ColoradoAvalanche.com is the official Web site of the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado Avalanche and ColoradoAvalanche.com are trademarks of Colorado Avalanche, LLC. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2025 Colorado Avalanche Hockey Team, Inc. and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved. NHL Stadium Series name and logo are trademarks of the National Hockey League.