Utility-scale solar farms spreading rapidly across the desert Southwest are stressing the region’s already overtaxed groundwater and communities are beginning to push back.
The vast solar development projects in Southern California have constrained local water availability and threatened desert ecosystems. The water-intensive development method for massive solar projects has brought about the fall of groundwater levels, which has impacted the small communities near Desert Center, California, that rely on the naturally occurring underground water reserves or groundwater aquifers. (Related: IRONY: “Green” solar […]
Utility-scale solar farms spreading rapidly across the California desert are stressing the region’s already overtaxed groundwater and communities are beginning to push back.
Utility-scale solar farms spreading rapidly across the desert Southwest are stressing the region’s already overtaxed groundwater and communities are beginning to push back.
Local wells in the area have gone dry since the construction of multiple utility-scale solar projects near Desert Center—threatening the only water source for hundreds of people and a handful of local businesses. Solar farms typically don’t use much water when operating, but during construction, the law requires developers to mitigate dust—which can spread health problems like Valley Fever. That requires water. The projects are being built on public land overseen by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. The federal agency knew the construction of the solar projects could impact local wells and may even be over-drafting the aquifer beneath them, according to former BLM staff, studies on the basin and public documents from the agency’s environmental assessments of the projects.