CONTRIBUTOR
Massive solar development projects in Southern California have strained local water availability, threatening desert ecosystems and angering residents who have been impacted by the strain on the water supply, according to an Inside Climate News report.
The small communities around Desert Center, California, depend on naturally-occurring underground water reserves, known as groundwater aquifers, but the water-intensive development process for large solar projects has caused groundwater levels to fall, according to Inside Climate News. Crucial local water wells have dried up and land beneath homes has sagged as a result of development activity, while desert ecosystems have been damaged as well, according to Inside Climate News.
Locals complain that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the corporations driving the developments in California’s Colorado Desert have not allowed them to provide sufficient input in the decision-making process for the developments, according to Inside Climate News. Despite the BLM’s assurances that “renewable energy development on BLM-managed public lands will continue to help communities across the country be part of the climate solution, while creating jobs and boosting local economies,” residents say that they have not reaped much benefit from the solar projects while the strain on their groundwater supply has intensified, according to Inside Climate News. (RELATED: Biden Admin Cracks Down On Chinese Solar Panels, Undermining The Green Agenda)
“No one took into consideration a community lived out here,” said Teresa Pierce, a resident of a nearby community who has helped to organize other locals to respond to the resource scarcity and solar developments, according to Inside Climate News.
Developers rely on the groundwater aquifer because there is no other feasible water supply in the area, rendering transport of water from other locations to the development sites prohibitively expensive, according to Inside Climate News. The development has depleted the water reserves for local communities like one trailer park which a property manager said would be “dead without water” if the local scarcity continues to worsen, according to Inside Climate News.
Joe Biden: “We’re gonna be shutting these plants down all across America, and having wind and solar.” pic.twitter.com/dkIu80sqZa
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 4, 2022
Another local who has two palm trees and no house on his property saw his electricity bill go from $15 to $1,800 in just one month, as his electric irrigation pump that keeps the trees alive worked much harder to reach underground water reserves that have fallen due to the development’s extensive use of the groundwater supply, according to Inside Climate News. Drilling new, deeper water wells can cost up to $100,000, according to Inside Climate News.
The BLM was aware that its approved solar projects on public lands may have been using too much water from the area’s underground water reserves by its own standards, but the agency has advanced the projects nonetheless, according to former BLM employees cited by Inside Climate News.
Beyond the problems posed by the strain on the groundwater aquifer for humans, solar developments have overtaken many small bodies of water across the desert which formerly provided critical habitat space to the animals inhabiting the desert region, according to Inside Climate News.
The BLM has approved seven utility-scale developments in the region spanning about 19,000 acres already, with more projects under consideration, according to Inside Climate News. Another 120,000 acres are available for development in the region surrounding Desert Center, according to Inside Climate News.
The Biden administration has publicly touted its spending and regulatory efforts designed to protect 30% of America’s lands and waters from development by 2030. The administration also heavily promotes solar panels as part of its larger “green” energy agenda.
HT/Rich L
Well that sucks.
It makes no sense. As worded it appears the pump moves down as the aquifer drops and the “reaching” is hard work.
That’s not the way submersible pumps work where I live.
Must be a California thing!
The deeper you go with the submersible pump, the higher the head or required pressure. The higher the pressure, the higher the required pump pressure. Higher pump pressure means increased pump energy required. Since most of these pumps are centrifugal, you also lose capacity as the head increases, thereby requiring longer run times thus higher pump usage and higher energy consumption.
It doesn’t make sense
… unless he put in a new pump.
… unless he made the well deeper.
If the guy had a 2 HP pump and was moving 20 gpm and watering for 60 hours gets him about 1200 gallons total ; at 0.12$/Kw/Hr he pays about $15/month.
To get up to $1800 he needs to run for 7000 hours.
We could say that the pump was very deep and it was working at its max, and figure it backwards and say that in the end he ran for 24hrs a day (720 hr/month … maybe 1.5 gpm) and payed $0.12 per KwHr …. So he was running a (approx) 20 HP pump. That means that in the beginning ($15/month) he was running for about 5 hrs/month and blowing out more than 1,000 gpd.
What makes more sense is that he didn’t look at his bill for a long time, and he didn’t have an appropriate low water shut off, and for some weird reason his pump didn’t burn up.
When dealing with deep desert wells, irrigation pumps are often not submerged pumps.
“Vertical turbine pumps, submersible pumps, vertical multi-stage pumps and accessories, such as motors and controls, all fall under the category of Irrigation Pumps.”
Shucks. I was hoping for some double pun riffs.
I couldn’t work out it the high use of water was just during the building for concrete and so on or permanent?
Panels get dirty, especially where dust blows about more freely than in some other locations. A report on a large desert solar project said measured reduction of electrical output due to dust on the panels was as much as 35% in one month. No doubt that varies depending upon local conditions. These facilities need large amounts of water to frequently wash the panels — panel washer green jobs. And they complain about thermal power plant cooling needs.
I wonder why they can’t clean the panels of dust by blowing air over them. Better yet, don’t build the dam things. If they do use water- that would alter the entire ecology of the area.
“I wonder why they can’t clean the panels of dust by blowing air over them. Better yet, don’t build the dam things. If they do use water- that would alter the entire ecology of the area.”
Using water to clean the panels is just a small part of the ecological disaster wrought by solar panel farms. Disturbing the caliche – the thin biological soil crust – to install the panels increases dust. Covering the ground with panels kills everything underneath them because the panels block the sun.
“Covering the ground with panels kills everything underneath them because the panels block the sun.”
That is so Pythonesque or worthy of a Spike Milligan “Q” visual gag if it was not so damn serious…and to say nothing of the increase in ambient temperature Solar farms causes ( as Nat Geo surmised about 20 years ago.)
That would mean the air handler would have to don serious face masks that cover the eyes and nose and breathe through filters.
Perhaps a certain number of low wage paid laborers will go heat stroke sun crazy and smash panels instead of cleaning them?
Question – another critique of solar panels is that their efficiency drops dramatically in hot weather. How true is that assertion? If true, how well would solar panels work in a hot, dusty dessert environment?
Solar panels are rated at 25C. The hottest I have measured on a poorly ventilated panels is 70C – say 45 degrees above the rated temperature. The efficiency loss coefficient for temperature is typically 0.4%/C.
So efficiency loss at 70C would be 18%. A panel rated at 100W would only produce 82W in rated sunshine of 1000W/m^2. .
Degradation of the insulation materials is probably a bigger issue in the high temperature. That translates to reduced useful operating life.
That would have direct implications for the environment, not just ground water.
Assuming it’s a Forth Bridge job where a certain fraction are washed every day. Any water used will evaporate in minutes. Water vapour that wasn’t in the atmosphere until very recently.
And water vapor is the strongest natural GHG. These areas and immediately downwind are likely to go the way of Phoenix, which no longer can use swamp coolers and it no longer gets cool enough at night to allow opening windows to cool the house.
Many years ago my cousin told me about his trips to Phoenix (for his job). He said the moment he got off the airplane the heat and humidity hit him in the face like a ton of bricks. And this coming from a long time Maryland resident (where it gets hot and humidity can reach pretty sickening levels in summer)!
Heat is normal for Phoenix where residents plant citrus trees in their yards. Citrus trees that produce abundant fruit.
Golf courses are what cause much of the humidity in Phoenix.
What people say is high humidity It is still dry air by East Coast terms. It is a stark difference to that area’s normal low humidity.
High humidity in Maryland means humidity over 40% up to 95% when it rains.
I can’t imagine they needed much water to install solar systems- for concrete or anything else. Can’t be much need for concrete for solar systems- wind turbines, yes.
Topaz solar produces (26% Capacity Factor) 115 MW on 4700 acres. At that same rate, the proposed 120,000 acre additional generation would produce 2,600 – 2,700 MW or roughly about the same as Diablo Canyon does (with a third unit) on about 50 acres. Solar is a vast waste of land space with little daily return, zero nighttime generation capacity and the need for massive batteries to store the generated energy from the time is is produced until the time it is needed
And a massive disposal problem: “The replacement rate of solar panels is faster than expected and given the current very high recycling costs, there’s a real danger that all used panels will go straight to landfill (along with equally hard-to-recycle wind turbines). Regulators and industry players need to start improving the economics and scale of recycling capabilities before the avalanche of solar panels hits” (Harvard Business Review June 2021).
That the replacement rate is ‘faster than expected’ is further evidence that the promotion of renewables is based on half-truths and lies.
Didn’t see how old the Nebraska hailstorm casualty solar farm was.
From memory, about 4-5 years.
There is nothing Green about the Greens only the dollar bills some very few collect. The rest is lies.
“That the replacement rate is ‘faster than expected’ is further evidence that the promotion of renewables is based on
half-truths andcomplete lies”.There are no half truths – that would imply some level of integrity and there is no integrity either.
For “solar panel”/”panels” I reckon you can substitute “wind turbine blades” and it would still be very revealing (and accurate) but not if you are a delusional EcoLoon
No, they don’t ‘really” need massive batteries because the existence of such batteries is a fantasy.
IMO using solar panels for supplying the grid is like putting out millions of buckets to collect rain water for municipal use. In other words, either method (solar panels and rain water collection) are only appropriate for small, mostly off-grid uses. Both simply lack the capacity when large amounts of power and water are needed.
Sounds like a good time for some old fashion regulation. I say the solar farms need to scale down until the water level rebounds. One more thing they will not be paid for the energy they would have generated had they not been scaled down. They just have make due.
Scale down to 0.
Solar only serves to warm the water for a private home. A boiler full of hot water is still very warm the next morning.
Set a limit for monthly groundwater withdrawal.
All withdrawals beyond their limit must be returned fully with pristine clean water.
This after the solar companies have completely refilled the aquifers they’ve drawn down with pristine clean water.
Where’s those environmental lawyers now, when those people really need them?
The lawyers are fending off the locals.
As Willie Sutton remarked about a different industry – that’s where the money is.
“Soon”?
“The lawyers are
fendingfeeding off the locals.”There, fixed it for you.
A lady called Erin might be “on it”….
Where is that helpful/friendly hail storm when you need it?……
The monsoons are coming.
Unfortunately there’s little chance of hail storms.
Lots of dust storms, though.
Time to cement over the desert because it is only getting dustier.
Paving Paradise for a parking lot?
‘They paved paradise because of that barking lot’….
‘Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you got in this con’
Was this song by Joni Mitchel called big yellow taxes?….
Actually:
“At 133 pm pdt, a severe thunderstorm was located 13 miles south of desert center, moving northwest at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. this severe thunderstorm will remain over mainly rural areas of north central imperial and riverside counties. this includes ca interstate 10 between mile markers 92 and 103. hail threat, radar indicated max hail size, 1. 00 in wind threat, radar indicated max wind gust, 60 mph.” –10/15/2022
Not sure if it got close to the solar projects. most of them seem to be along the I10. I drive by every month or so and there are lots of panels going up.
story tip
RT : Greta Thunberg offers Ukraine ‘professional help’The Swedish environmentalist has traveled to Kiev to meet with President Zelensky
https://swentr.site/news/578942-greta-thunberg-zelensky-ukraine/
So far not a word about Britain’s Depleted Uranium tank ammo in Ukraine.
Likely a stage setting for an attack again on Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, ZNPP; the largest in Europe.
…
Imagine that – war damages the environment!
Greta’s the one needing professional help. What on earth does the doom pixie think she can possibly accomplish in Ukraine? She’s a liability not an asset.
I see a real opportunity for an enterprising attorney.
Better Call Saul then.
The lack of thought within all of this Climate Malarkey is no more obvious than here.
(It’s what paranoid and thus easily panicked people do – shoot first then ask questions.
i.e. Do the wrong thing and make it all worse)
All those solar panels have got to be the biggest and best ‘Rain Harvesting’ setup you could ever imagine
Was there something wrong with running a little plastic gutter along the bottom of them all and collecting some water in a few tanks or a deep pond?
Rather than letting the rain run right off into bone-dry ground where it will instantly evaporate or race away in muddy torrents.
(OK maybe not much but it still does rain there)
Or what about using some of that bounteous and cheap solar electricity to run a few (industrial scale) dehumidifiers and pull some water out of the air for your own use?
For your own use ‘on site’ and if you have any spare, push it into the aquifers.
Or give it away to the locals instead of stealing what little they have already
Holy Cow, if it’s possible now to stuff CO₂ into the ground and have it stay there, can we not do same with a drop of water?
But that’s it isn’t it: Climate Science?
Despite all the fine words and rhetoric, it’s all greed, selfishness, take take take and rampant hypocrisy – right down to the basic junk that the science itself is.
WTF has gone wrong with this world
(See my comment on Dessler for the answer)
That approach was ruled out because it involved using that filthy, planet-destroying, oil-derived creation called PLASTIC.
A group by the name of BLM sacrificing the community for their zealous ideals, now where have I heard that before…
Dunno.
But I did see & hear lotsa tv footage of BLM terrorizing the community for their zealous ideals.
BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is a federal government agency that oversees public land that is not national forest or park. They take their orders from higher up the bureaucratic chain.
Enviros used to whine if off road vehicles drove across the desert – now they tolerate something like we see in that photo at the top. I suppose it’s like Christians tolerating burning heretics at the stake because they don’t “follow the dogma”.
A 23-minute interview with Armando Cavanha in Brazil and Ronald Stein on the subject of: The World Needs More Than Intermittent Electricity from Wind and Solar. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7080239475489980416/
Unwilling to continue the pursuit of occasional electricity from wind and solar, Sweden Shocks Europe: Abandons ‘Unstable’ Green Energy Agenda, Returns to Nuclear Power https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2023/06/25/sweden-shocks-europe-abandons-unstable-green-energy-agenda-returns-to-nuclear-power-n766866
All of these “environmental” projects have one thing in common — they are all terrible for the environment. Whether it’s rare earth mining, killing large birds and bats by the millions, destroying old growth forests, or this example,: depleting groundwater.
Do we really have to destroy the environment in order to save it?
It’s a variation on the line of “This (insert particularly savage example of corporal punishment of your choice) is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you” – aka blx
What is all the water need for solar panels? Is someone out there washing them 24/7 so much that it is depleting the ground water?
Save the planet, by killing it What a sick joke this climate change crap is.