In the western part of the U.S. water has always been a contentious issue. Now it appears the issues involving water in the West just got a little more contentious as alternative energy needs have entered the fray. According to an article by Todd Woody for the New York Times, “a water war is breaking out in the desert Southwest over the dozens of large-scale solar power plants planned for the region.”According to Woody’s article, some solar technology can require over a billion gallons of water a year. The problem is the region where this technology is being employed only gets roughly three to four inches of annual rainfall. As Woody reports, “[f]or solar developers that means dealing with an often-bewildering array of regulations, stakeholders and politics.”
Some in Arizona fear they will lose their water to help provide energy for California, as this has been a past issue. Though, since the stakeholders have had to deal with this issue in the past some are confident they can use technologies that won’t threaten their water sources. Some states are more complicated. For instance, Woody writes that in Nevada individual people “and companies own water rights separate from their property.” Meanwhile farmers and ranchers in the West are very concerned about whether they will lose water to solar technology as their neighbors in Nevada may be eager to sell their water rights, which could deplete aquifers.
“The German solar developer wants to build a 500-megawatt solar power plant complex in the arid Amargosa Valley west of Las Vegas. Its preferred method of cooling the twin solar farms would consume 1.3 billion gallons of water a year, about 20 percent of the desert valley’s water. To obtain rights to that water the company will have to negotiate with scores of local alfalfa farmers and companies.”It is a strange situation indeed when, at a public hearing environmentalists complain about endangering fish species, farmers worry about where their future water will come from if so much is used for solar technology, and a car dealership owner worries how he will hang on if he can’t sell his water rights to the project. Additionally, under Nevada law “property owners must use their water at least one year out every five.” So you get a situation where people waste water just to retain their rights.
We’ll have to wait and see how this latest Western water controversy plays out.
To read the Woody article click here.
Posted: 10/01/09
