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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. ....
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. ....
Not too long after, a local RV park began facing water issues as well. All 70 of its residents were left without water for a week. Eventually, they managed to resupply by lowering the local well’s water pump, which cost a whopping $16,000. “That park is dead without water,” the park’s property manager, Nick Melendez, said. “You can’t even get water trucked in out there.” According to an extensive report on the issue published Monday by Inside Climate News, a self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit climate change news organization, the massive solar farms near Desert Center are drying up the area’s water supply. ....